Wafers-
Well, nothing much to report, but I'll stick with the blog for the time being. America is like an almost-dead fish, flopping on the deck. No idea what it's doing, or why. But Wafers know why: you set yourself against Nature, and against Reality, and what do you think is finally going to happen? Ditto, if for 400+ years, you marginalize or reject those critics who tried to give you valuable input. The dominant narrative reigns supreme, until it hits a wall; which is the story of our time.
-mb
"Chronic wrongdoing...may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation," (Theodore Roosevelt).
ReplyDeleteTalk about how “The dominant narrative reigns supreme,”! Here’s one of those “nail in our coffin” moments: Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905).
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary
But I just happened to find this quote, that, imo, meshes with your Karmic City perspective. It’s from French philosopher Alain Badiou, just another one of those critics who will remain marginalized and rejected:
“If there exists one unique great imperial power which is always convinced that its most brutal interests coincide with the Good; if it is true that every year the USA spends more on their military budget than Russia, China, France, England and Germany put together; and if that Nation-State, devoted to military excess, has no public idol other than wealth, no allies other than servants, and no view of other peoples apart from an indifferent, commercial and cynical one; then the basic freedom of States, peoples and individuals consists in doing everything and thinking everything in order to escape, as much as possible, from the commandments, interventions and interference of that imperial power.”
https://libquotes.com/alain-badiou/quote/lbi9x9o
MB,
ReplyDeleteDo you think Amerikkka ever had a fighting spirit like some other nations do/did? The (South) Koreans built back their nation after the war, and they now have one of the world's major economies, not to mention the "Hallyu" phenomenom of exporting their music/TV shows. The Japanese also bounced back after WW2. Then you had the French w/ their yellow vest protests, etc.
If the shit suddenly hit the fan, do you think Amerikkkans have it within them to bounce back as well?
Squirrel-
ReplyDeleteNo.
mb
Are we living in a dystopia? If only we knew how bad things are
ReplyDeletehttps://edwest.substack.com/p/are-we-living-in-a-dystopia
I often consider if we have come to Huxley's future or Orwell's. I suppose we're veering toward Huxley, followed closely by a *real* totalitarian state after that...No thanks!
Dr B and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteJennifer McCoy and Benjamin Press have written a report relevant to this blog: "What Happens When Democracies Become Perniciously Polarized?" They use the term "pernicious polarization" and conclude that "a number of features make the United States both especially susceptible to polarization and especially impervious to efforts to reduce it." Their report shows that after a nation reaches a particular level of polarization nothing can be done to counter its continued polarization.
https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/01/18/what-happens-when-democracies-become-perniciously-polarized-pub-86190
Their report adds fuel to a point made frequently by Dr. Berman -- citing Toynbee, Spengler, Tainter, and others -- that collapsing empires are incapable of adapting to the crises they face. Collapsing empires cannot help but do the wrong thing.
Pete-
ReplyDeleteIf collapse is in the cards, then the empire is actually doing the right thing. Of course, 'nothing can be done' is not quite correct; the nation can be plunged into civil war, and that is certainly a possibility for the US. As far as doing the 'right' thing: let me count the ways. Let's threaten China; lets go to war w/Russia (by proxy). Let's have a daily massacre; let's reelect trashy, sick people to the Senate; let's think political correctness amounts to serious social change; let's have popular figures fan the flames of rabid anti-Semitism. All this is abt 10% of my list.
If I were to sit down w/Schmiden, read excerpts from QOV, and explain the idea of dominant narratives vs. marginalized ones, or the notion of 'negative identity'--he wdn't have the faintest idea of what I was talking about. He wd just dismiss me as a crazy person, while continuing on w/his crackpot realism (to quote CW Mills).
I've been saying 'we're fucked' since 2000; hardly anyone has been listening.
mb
ps: And let's have the vice-president be a certified moron.
ReplyDeletePlease do not go off fishing. I crave the sanity of this blog!
ReplyDeleteI thought Carr’s 2010 book, The Shallows, revealed the worst about tech and our culture, but it is much worse than I thought. Wafers may want to check out Who’s Raising the Kids?: Big Tech, Big Business, and the Lives of Children by Susan Linn (2022).
Susan Linn introduces Prodigy, a free math game recommended by teachers to parents. Solve a problem, kill a monster. Of course, your elementary child will want the upgrade — $119.40 yearly. “In a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, my colleagues at Fairplay noted that ‘over a 19‑minute period we saw 16 unique advertisements for membership, as well as opportunities to see ads via shopping and social play, and only 4 math problems.’” (page 187)
Will kids learn more math? They gain only a single point on standardized tests. Kids who purchase the upgrade wear a virtual badge to show everyone their special status. The upgrade also grants you better weapons! (pages 188, 189)… Is data mined by the company? Unknown.
Rose-
ReplyDeletech. 3 of WAF might round out the picture 4u. Also, yrs ago I read abt some Canadian company that came out with a digital pad called Vinci, that cd be introduced to infants shortly after birth. (I lost the reference.) Also check out the ch. on Alan Turing in EPV.
mb
Upset KFC customer shoots employee after restaurant runs out of corn, police say
ReplyDeletehttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/12/14/kfc-customer-shoots-employee-runs-out-corn/10894637002/
A completely healthy society. Nothing to see here. Also not noted in article, a society where traveling miles to order machine processed food from inside a two ton metal construct is seen as economic and rational.
Professor Berman,
ReplyDeleteIn an earth shaking update to his paper, "Global Warming in the Pipeline", Dr. James Hansen stated, "Eventual global warming due to today’s GHG forcing alone – after slow feedbacks operate – is about 10°C.” That’s 18 degrees Fahrenheit. He also said that aerosol pollution may hold the temperature to "only 6C -8C". This is an existential threat to human life and with one trillion tons of CO2 already in the atmosphere, the cake is in the oven.
The paper is here : https://arxiv.org/pdf/2212.04474.pdf
Hi Dr. B and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteBelow is a link to an article about the Vinci baby computer. It would be interesting to see what happened to all the children who lived in Vinci reality compared with the children who lived in plain old vanilla reality. In performing a Google search, it was hard to find anything past 2011. Like so many things tech, the sheen wore off quickly.
https://www.latimes.com/home/la-xpm-2011-sep-18-la-hm-0917-baby-computer-20110918-story.html
7 million men aged 25-54 in the USA are not working
ReplyDeleteWhat are they doing? Volunteering? Worship? Care-work? “Playing Call of Duty stoned” They report 2000 hours a year of screen time (w/ pain meds). This phenomenon is far less severe in Western Europe
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/opinion-free-expression/the-decline-of-men-in-the-workforce/
This is what is on the mind of Americans as we edge closer to WWIII.
ReplyDeletePolice in St. Louis are investigating after a KFC employee said a customer shot him because he was angry the restaurant was out of corn.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/12/14/kfc-customer-shoots-employee-runs-out-corn/10894637002/
Man fatally shot Atlanta Subway restaurant worker after sub had 'too much mayo,' police say.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/06/27/atlanta-subway-worker-shot-dead-sandwich-too-much-mayo/7746951001/
Fowler-
ReplyDeleteCd it be they're beating off?
trout-
Clearly, in response to the threat of global warming, what America has been doing is beating off.
Brown-
I hafta tell you that if I don't get my corn, I'm filled w/a murderous rage.
mb
Glenn-
ReplyDeleteToo much mayo and I come out w/all guns blazing.
mb
American food critics are in a league of their own!
ReplyDeleteAfter 29 years in the US I moved home to Ireland this April. Now living in a 100 year old 2 bedroom cottage, old & cold, near the Mayo border. Keeping house warm with turf / wood fires. In the 2 months we've been living in our small town we've made more friends than in the previous 5 years in 'liberal' Portland. Professor Berman's advice: "GET OUT" should NOT be questioned. Moving was a huge pain - our goods just arrived today (10 MONTHS after shipped), insane delays. But anyway, thought I'd just add a comment here to stiffen the spine of those looking at making the move. It IS the right thing.
Oh, rental crisis in Ireland is insane. 700 rentals in the entire country, all expensive. (Thanks, AirBNB! Thanks, Vulture funds!). Be prepared to buy outright if you can - we got this place for 82K, which is zilch compared to US or east coast Irish prices.
https://news.sky.com/story/young-people-in-ireland-face-terrifying-rent-crisis-due-to-chronic-housing-shortage-12687688
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteThank you for keeping the blog going. Those of us with any sanity left do appreciate it.
So, as we approach the end of the year, we see that we can count on our representatives to engage in their final year acts. Meanwhile the Federal Reserve can't help but doing anything it can to pretend it knows what it is doing.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/elizabeth-warren-federal-trying-more-204108761.html
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/politics/2022/12/15/house-passes-bill-to-extend-gov-t-funding-for-1-week
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-backs-sweeping-defense-bill-voting-continues-2022-12-08/
https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/15/pentagon-admits-they-cant-account-for-half-their-assets-amid-latest-audit-failure/
Peace,
Vince
In the annual “Tis’ the Season To Be Jolly” month of December, USAins obviously daily wish a Happy Yule Tide to each other on the roads. LOL!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ky3.com/2022/12/14/road-rage-christmas-chaos-staying-safe-road-this-holiday-season/
Students and teachers in a New Jersey school are prepping for the next mass shooting.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/15/metro/new-jersey-district-equips-schools-with-armored-shields-case-mass-shooting/
And the Far Right’s newest AR15 celebrity now is taking up dancing in, where else?, Texas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igNHkWDN_Lg
This society boring, Doctor? I respectfully disagree. Laughable? Yes. With doofuses like him and his interviewer whose vocabulary doesn’t surpass that idiotic repeated word “dude” in our dumbed down culture, the U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.! on its way to oblivion is one big comedy show.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteI still think that underneath all of the obvious entertainment, there is a huge, sad, boring reality. After a while, even massacres get kinda dull.
Vince-
Gd beatoff data.
dermot-
Congratulations. What great news. Perhaps the major reason I left the US was that I had literally no one to talk to. The realization came slowly that everyone around me was a buffoon. Buffoons are not easy to talk to, and I left the country w/just abt 1 friend. As for yr own new friendships, as compared to Portland: gee, what a surprise. The American version of friendship was captured neatly 100 yrs ago by Dale Carnegie: how to fake sincerity so you can market yr products. It's all I-It relationships (Martin Buber). What % of Americans, on their deathbed, realize that they pissed their lives away?
mb
The deep kindness of Zionism:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/15/idf-exhibition-breaking-the-silence
Did I just die and go to heaven?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.resetera.com/threads/%E2%80%98luddite%E2%80%99-teens-don%E2%80%99t-want-your-likes-article-teens-embracing-flip-phones-and-pushing-back-on-social-media.665329/
I'd like to kiss every single one of these kids. They need a new name, tho: The Anti-Buffoons.
mb
Glad I moved away from my old stomping grounds... they got some real winners there. This couple kidnapped a pregnant woman, cut the baby out to keep it as their own, and unfortunately botched the job. Then, to create a new level of stupid, burned the body and then claimed that the kidnapping woman miscarried!
ReplyDeleteBonus content! The mugshots!
https://fox4kc.com/news/couple-charged-in-death-of-woman-baby-found-dead-in-southwest-missouri/
The price of therapy for Amerikkkans is getting steep, sez this link
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/paying-the-price-of-therapy-when-mental-health-treatment-is-out-of-reach/
Therapy might work in some cases, but in some other countries, the idea of paying a total stranger to listen to you is foreign. I'll bet folks in Mexico for example put more value in social capital opposed to just accumulating junk. The mental health biz is huge in Amerikkka, despite all these toys & gizmos that's touted to bring happiness
comrade-
ReplyDeleteThere is a fundamental kindness to Americans that I've always admired.
Satchmo-
Are you familiar w/the World Buffoon Index (WBI)? The US has 146.8 morons per hectare (MPH); Denmark has 0.6; and Mexico is somewhere in between, having much of its own culture destroyed by Americanization.
mb
Vince-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. Pls post only once every 24 hrs, thanks.
mb
Re: Luddite Club
ReplyDeleteA "return to a nostalgic time" is what these are wealthy enough to do, and this is just 12 kids, so basically meaningless. For most people, smart phones are as mandatory as electricity (see: 2-factor authentication, renting a uhaul, etc.). Far more radical change is needed, tossing smart phones does zilch.
Unless we change the entire system, it's pointless. The wealthy elites (e.g. Steve Jobs) have always been able to reject smart phones for their own family (Jobs pushed them on all the poor people, but didn't allow them for his own kids).
I find it wildly selfish & idiotic unless people are pushing for a total change. Capitalism has to go, anything else is just shifting things around and is distracting people from the real task at hand. The problem with ditching smart phones, is it makes you feel you're doing something, and you lose sight of total system change.
For example, we still need to abolish nuclear family & push for communal dining. The basic structures of money & power have to change.
hmm-
ReplyDeleteNot clear that they are wealthy, and if it spreads from 12 to 1200, I can only applaud it. But of course yr rt, the entire system hasta change. Perhaps we can take some comfort in the fact that it is dying. Certainly, "The People" are not going to rise up.
mb
A Luddite Club - what a good idea, and right in the New Monastic tradition, don't you think? But any of us could start one - like why not, really? I'm seriously thinking of doing it here in Hudson, NY, where I live. After all, large-scale change always consists of a lotta small-scale change that happens in ever-larger increments when the time for it is right...and meantime folks will be (re?)discovering who they are and enjoying their lives more fully. Gee, Dr. Berman - I can't seem to come up with a ref on that off the top of my head but there've gotta be a lotta them. Maybe a WAFER could supply one or two for me...
ReplyDeleteHeidi-
ReplyDeleteIt fits the plan of Dual Process I describe in the final essay of 'AWTY?' One thing we need, after the crash, is an end to BOPs--buffoons on phones. Worship of technology is a form of mental illness. See ch. 3 of WAF.
mb
Response to Satchmo and Dr. B regarding therapy in America.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I've wondered is whether the modern 'therapist' is nothing more than an industrial version of a 'clergyman'. On some level, a therapy session really isn't much different from confession.
I'm curious about your thoughts on it. 'Therapy' really strikes me as a sort of numbing experience given that it focuses SO MUCH on the individual's locus of 'control'. It certainly does NOT invite this question:
"Maybe I feel so terrible because this society I'm expected to 'play nice' in is so divorced from humanity."
Xen-
ReplyDeleteActually, an awful lot depends on the therapist. There are some very gd ones out there who can help the patient work thru the shit s/he is embedded in, and then there are loads of incompetents who can waste his/her time.
mb
troutbum: Thanks for sharing that paper. James Hansen is one of my heroes.
ReplyDeletedermot: Thank you for sharing your experience. It's very inspirational to me as I patiently await the point in time where I will be able to depart from the US.
I've got quite the story for y'all, one that illustrates the character of your typical Amerikkkan.
ReplyDeleteI recently sold some brand new sneakers on a site that deals with fashion. Thursday I get a return request on the item, on the alleged basis that I lied about the shoes being real leather. Unfortunately for the buyer though, nowhere in the listing did I make claims about it being "real" anything; The case was denied after being reviewed by the site's staff. I suspect the moron had buyer's remorse & decided to file a bogus return request instead of just gifting the shoes to someone else. Aren't Amerikkkans just grand?
T. S. ELIOT SAW ALL THIS COMING
ReplyDeleteOne hundred years after the publication of The Waste Land, its vision has never been more terrifying.
By James Parker
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/01/ts-eliot-the-waste-land-poem-anniversary/672231/
330 million turkeys living in a cultural and spiritual wasteland. Not sure what is left to do, what is left to say. Empires all turn to ash, this one is right on track..
Wiggins-
ReplyDeleteCheck out my chapter on TSE in EPV.
mb
Just want to share some good things to come out of being a Wafer. I watched my son do the graduate walk with his engineering degree last night. I'm sure his exposure to our dear professors writings had a measurable effect. "The Man Without Qualities" is his favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks MB, for lighting torches.
comrade-
ReplyDeleteYr welcome, and congratulations. He might also wanna read "The Heart of the Matter," for a further dose of Berm-fiction.
mb
Just a tad overdue:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/17/j-robert-oppenheimer-atomic-bomb-security-clearance
Yes, a tad overdue regarding Oppenheimer's security clearance.
ReplyDeleteBut as a physicist myself, who has read many bios of Oppenheimer, I have mixed feelings about this guy. He could be pretty nasty to people and was often very much a snot. When he ran the Institute for Advanced Study he would constantly interrupt speakers just so he could show off his brilliance to the audience. Speakers could hardly get a chance to speak. And I heard that from someone who was there. From what I can gather, the only time he was not a nasty snot was when he was running the Manhattan Project where he needed people to cooperate. That's not to say that he didn't do some good physics, because he and his students did in the 1930's, though he tended to downplay the importance of it. This was work on collapsed stars which became enormously important in the 1960's.
I may have mixed feelings about Oppenheimer, but I don't have mixed feelings about Edward Teller. He was an asshole and was the main reason behind the former loser his security clearance because Oppie didn't support the making of the hydrogen bomb. And I think Oppie was right to oppose it, though it was likely inevitable. I hope I didn't run over.
Something I've given a lot of thought to, is the question of how effective are Affirmative Action policies, especially when talking about academic performance and admissions?
ReplyDeleteNot very. When the Supreme Court upheld Affirmative Action as constitutional, Sandra Day O'Connor made the point that it was something worth trying for twenty five years or so, whereupon we could review its effectiveness. The main problem is that academic preferences often lead to what is called the "Mismatch Effect". That is to say, a black student whose grades and SAT scores make him a great candidate for say, Penn State Law School, gets into Harvard Law School instead. The data seems to suggest, however, that that student will do less well in terms of academic performance, and will have much less of a chance of passing the Bar. On top of that, Asian students are really getting the shaft (even though they are a "minority", they are not the "right" minority.)
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-26-la-oe-sander26sep26-story.html
At any rate, I predict that this Supreme Court will overturn Affirmative Action, which, while I'm in favor, will, I think, polarize this society at least as much, if not more, than their overturning of Roe.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteNote that I discuss the Manhattan Project at some length in "Neurotic Beauty." As for Teller: a grotesque human being. 4 faculty members, including myself, did a silent demo against him at Rutgers U. ca. 1970, just standing at the back of the audience w/a sign that said "Peace." Teller compared us to the Nazis, and the audience applauded him wildly. In general, we were regarded as "disruptive" by the Rutgers community, not Teller w/his "Nazi" talk and what became the discredited Project Plowshare that he was peddling. His testimony to the Oppenheimer hearings in 1954 was shameful; Hans Bethe said as much, when asked to testify.
Teller did, I believe, predict the existence of anti-matter, and how it wd annihilate regular matter. This led to a funny poem in the New Yorker. It went something like this:
"On a lonely planet, stark and stellar,
Sits a lonely man: Dr. Edward Anti-Teller...
And after a search of years, and months, and days,
The two met. One handshake,
And all was gamma rays."
Megan-
I recall that the Bakke decision, wh/was confused in trying to have the issue both ways, made things even more muddled. What it said to me, at least, was that America was never going to solve its racial problem; which indeed has gotten much worse since 1978. And yr probably rt abt what we can expect in that dept. if Aff. Action is revoked.
mb
ps: ccg: For what it's worth, I encountered something similar in terms of temperament from Robert's brother Frank in the 70s, for whom I worked at the Exploratorium in San Francisco for a short while. He saw himself as upholding the Church of Science, cdn't tolerate any deviations from it--told me I was a 'heretic' (literally)--and fired me. The premise of the Exploratorium was quite bonkers: Frank set up interactive displays designed, he said, to secretly 'convert' children to the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics, and so to the idea of complementarity. This, he said, would lead to world peace. I managed not to gasp at this bit of nonsense, but I think I did stare at him, as I cdn't quite believe anyone cd be that naive. All in all, he was rather a douche bag. But he was a bitter man; after Robert was discredited, Frank cdn't get a job, and became a cattle rancher in some remote corner of Colorado for 10 yrs, I think it was. More fallout from the Cold War, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWhile going through some old music experiments I found this short track I put a clip of Mr. Berman over - some drone/ambient with a slow-moving train and Mr. Berman saying "After all, the American Dream is about a world without limit - it's about always having more - but more is not a spiritual path - nor is it a philosophy of life - it has no content at all"...
ReplyDeletehttps://soundcloud.com/nathanabels/always-having-more-1
Isn't this what the world needs - somber drone with some thoughts on America's failure? It's blowing up on soundcloud (haha)
Nathan-
ReplyDeleteI cdn't get it to play.
mb
MB-That's pretty wild about Frank Oppenheimer, especially the idea of converting children to the Copenhagen Interpretation, not to mention that that interpretation, and complementarity, would bring about world peace. I hadn't heard that before, but on the other hand, it doesn't really surprise me that much as the prime inventor and prognosticator of these notions, Niels Bohr, seemed to have a cult-like following among physicists of that era. In many ways he still does. Physicist tend to be hero worshipers, after all. It was only after that generation died off that other voices, such as that of John Bell and Dieter Zeh, could be heard. Bohr tried to apply complementarity to just about everything, including politics, as I recall. The more I read about Bohr the less I like him. I
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I would not associate Teller with the invention/discovery of antimatter. That was really Paul Dirac, though even this association is not as straightforward as one might think. He thought the proton might be the anti-electron. But then Herman Weyl showed that the anti-electron, if it existed, had to have the same mass of the electron.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteThis all sounds like The Big Bang Theory, one of my favorite sitcoms. Of course, the world wd have been much better off if Teller had met Anti-Teller and got vaporized as a result. Anyway, it's possible that even b4 the shameful trial of Robert, both he and Frank were jackasses; but I think Frank never quite recovered from being labeled 'pink' by assn, and the 10-yr period of not being able to find work. His response to an essay I wrote for the Exploratorium--"The Ideology of Color," wh/he did print as a pamphlet--was to hire some flunkey to write "The Color of Ideology," essentially an ad hominem attack on me. As I remember, it had no empirical content. In any case, calling me a heretic was pretty revealing, because this meant he was the Church (of science); wh/did not, I don't think, bother him. His rigidity was impressive, and his approval of his flunkey's essay suggested to me that he was actually driven by emotion, not by scientific reasoning. Plus, you've gotta be pretty daffy to think that interactive exhibits will secretly convert kids to quantum mechanics, thereby leading to world peace. As I've said repeatedly on this blog, hi-IQ folks are often quite stupid. America, certainly, is chock full of these types.
Check this out, if you haven't already read it:
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Heinar-Kipphardt/dp/0809012154/ref=sr_1_4?__mk_es_US=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=1RPSYWO4AFLNU&keywords=in+the+case+of+j.+robert+oppenheimer&qid=1671433956&s=books&sprefix=in+the+case+of+j.+robert+oppenheimer%2Cstripbooks%2C198&sr=1-4
Hans Bethe remains my hero. I was all set to take his course in quantum theory (I minored in physics), but graduated from the university b4 I was able to take the math course that was a prerequisite for it.
God, this takes me back. O tempora, O mores.
mb
You just have to look in amazement at the daily violence that takes place in the Big Apple and its vicinity. Check out the headlines galore, as well as the other bizarre happenings here. And just think, this only is a microcosm. Many other cities and their respective suburbs have similar daily occurrences here in this wasteland of a country.
ReplyDeleteA good one is the crook returning for his backpack. Talk about that saying that a “robber always returns to the scene of a crime”. Or, to paraphrase our good Doctor, perhaps it is just an example of “the stupidity of the average American.”
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/robber-returns-to-midtown-smoke-shop-to-stab-worker
A good unconscionable capitalist hustling example here in the U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.! is the nursing home owner who embezzled over $22 million while disregarding the health and well being of its elderly residents.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/li-nursing-home-owner-stole-funds-while-neglecting-residents
p.s. Thank you, Doctor, for introducing me ( EPV) to Arthur Koestler. I currently am reading The Gladiators. The similarity of Rome in this novel to this piece of shit country is obvious in many ways.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteThat nursing home story is the US, in microcosm.
mb
Here's a second try :
ReplyDeletehttps://soundcloud.com/nathanabels/always-having-more-2
Nathan-
ReplyDeleteNo luck. In order to play it, you hafta accepted tracking, cookies, and personalized ads, wh/I don't wanna do.
mb
MB--I totally agree--Hans Bethe was a hero to me, too. Too bad you didn't get to take quantum mechanics with him. In the early 1980's I heard him give a talk, at conference in NYC, about the work he was doing at the time on supernova explosions and the collapse of stellar cores. I still remember parts of it. Later that decade he wrote several articles heroically ridiculing Reagan's "Star Wars" (Strategic Defense Initiative) program, pointing out all the reasons that it couldn't work. You'll no doubt recall that Reagan got the idea for this from none other than--Edward Teller! He was a fount of bad ideas.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I think it was Isadore Rabi (Columbia University) who said that the world would be a better place without Edward Teller. Hard to disagree with that.
About that book In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, I recall reading parts of it several decades ago, probably when I was an undergraduate. The Oppenheimer hearings were a disgrace, but Teller was not the only bad actor involved. Lewis Strauss, as I recall, used Teller for his own scummy purpose.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteWas Teller really involved in the SDI? The version I heard was that Reagan saw "Star Wars," and that was his inspiration. In any case, a # of scientists pointed out the flaws, said it was a pile of turds.
mb
Wafers, this is what passes for headline news in America: Lauren Boebert announces that she does not believe in “Russian space lasers, Jewish space lasers, and all the rest.” (She doesn’t explain what “all the rest” is.) In response, Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked Boebert’s electoral margin of victory. Infotainment and meaningless piffle in the theater of decline:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/margorie-taylor-greene-attacks-lauren-115120610.html
Meanwhile, I’m sure that the Chinese and Russian militaries are taking note of the report of U.S. Air Force grounding its entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers due to a series of technical issues. The report inadvertently reveals the main function of the bat-winged B-2 is to provide flyovers during college football bowl games.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/air-force-grounds-entire-b202955343
I’m thinking an invitation to Boebert and Greene to come to the Evergreen College campus here in Olympia to debate Tulsi with a low-altitude flyover by a B-2 would be a terrific way to kick off Evergreen’s winter quarter in January.
The Progress Illusion. The economist author presents a strong critique of mainstream economics. Interesting that this isn't coming from some outsider intellectual. The writing is on the wall.. Will finish over the holiday and report..
ReplyDeletehttps://islandpress.org/books/progress-illusion
Mary Lou-
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, it will make no difference at I all. Imagine if the NYT ran a headline that said SCIENTISTS SAY 99% OF AMERICANS ARE BUFFOONS. Would a single American then ask, "How can I become a non-buffoon?"
Jack-
What these gals don't understand is that I actually *own* a Jewish space-laser. Meanwhile, Meghan Markle and Gisele Bundchen have been conspicuously silent on the matter.
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteHere's the German rock band "Rammstein" with their critique of America, from 2004-
https://youtu.be/Rr8ljRgcJNM
Lyrics with translation-
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/amerika-america.html-37#songtranslation
As you and Ariel Dorfman and other authors have pointed out, America has successfully developed its soft power world-wide. (Mickey, Coke, Santa, fast-food, etc.)
https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/20/patrick-lawrence-between-myth-and-history/#comments
ReplyDeleteLatest column from Patrick Lawrence. Imagine this, he has written that we have failed.
I can't help but wonder by which method we would choose to finally end it. WWW 3 is all to real at this point. Or do we just accept the slow train wreck that is called Global Warming?
Oh wait. It is time to go shopping.
Peace, Vince.
Vince-
ReplyDeleteNice 2c that a few political analysts are catching up to me, 22 yrs later. Anyway, given the fact that 99% of the American public consists of self-destructive douche bags, how many will read this article? How many will be able to understand it? How many will come to the Wafer Treatment Center (WTC) for slapping and urine?
mb
Just ran across this blog... I'm curious what the objection to Tulsi Gabbard is. Seems to me she was the closest thing America had, to a candidate who was both anti-war and anti-woke.
ReplyDeleteMitchell-
ReplyDeleteLong story, and perhaps the other Wafers can help you out. As for me, I have almost completed my 5-vol. study, "Cornerstones of the Tulsic Philosophy." Look for it on Amazon.
mb
MB--Teller was heavily involved in SDI as an advocate. The idea of it largely came from him. He gave a lecture on the general idea of it at the Lawrence Livermore lab in 1967, and Gov. Ronald Reagan attended. You can read about it here:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative
One of the components of this system was supposed to be the X-ray laser. Teller pushed for this in a big way. It was to be space-based and was supposedly going to get it's energy from a thermonuclear detonation in Earth orbit. It was supposed to happen in the midst of some structure made of some material that would cause lasing in the X-ray part of the spectrum, but I never even tried understand how this was supposed to happen because the idea seemed just plain silly. I recall hearing that underground test were being conducted by folks from Teller's Livermore lab, but that they were caught faking data. They claimed to have detecting lasing, but it was not so. Is it surprising that faked data on this came from Teller's own lab? Not to me.
By the way, there *are* X-ray lasers, even tabletop ones, but they hardly require thermonuclear explosions to operate.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteWell, if Teller was involved we can be sure that the space lasers weren't Jewish. I have a vague memory of applying for a job at Livermore around 1977; I didn't get it. Wd I have been working for Teller? Talk abt dodging a bullet.
mb
This is perfect as an example of just how nuts America has become. A person was elected on Long Island to the United States Congress who appears to have lied about everything about his background and experience.
ReplyDeleteAnd has no shame about it.
https://youtu.be/L7HGbUZ-kXI
Hi Wafers, surfacing after a long time, though I have been reading the discussions regularly. Special thanks to MB and CCG for the engrossing discussion on the Oppenheimer episode, roles of Teller and Bethe. Being a Physicist myself,
ReplyDeletethis made great reading.
Reg MB's comment 'Worship of technology is a form of mental illness', here is my recent experience. A young lady, who is a member of one of working groups of IPCC, was gave a colloquium on climate change in our institute. Her entire presentation was filled with technical analysis of how bad the green house gas situation is, how much of temp change that may cause etc. Also, how this or that technology can mitigate the situation. The audience, mostly physicists, some mathematicians, were devouring every bit of it. At the end of it I asked her about the socio-political aspect of it: whether a solution is at all on the top of the to-do list, and whether any solution will be acceptable to the financial elite if it does not preserve their bottomlines. She gave some vague answers. I'm not sure if she had not thought about the issues, or were not authorized to talk about political topics. The audience was mostly happy with the technical analysis.
I did not even bring up the spiritual aspect of it. But for the Wafers, here is an article from the Noema that discusses (among other things) how our mechanistic understanding/perception of time fundamentally incapacitates us from understanding the true nature of the climate crisis. Reminded me of a chapter (2 or 3?) in WAF.
Indian-
ReplyDeleteI don't see the article. But it all boils down to competing narratives. Narratives are extremely powerful, are rooted in questions of identity that go back to an early age in a child's life. For this woman, and her audience, to consider shifting from neoliberalism or even greenwashing to de-growth would involve something nearing a psychotic break. This is why all of these climate chg conferences are baloney: people, nations, want to chg without changing, so the resolutions are either cosmetic, or have no teeth to enforce genuine chg. We wd rather be ruined than changed, as Auden says. Faced with admitting that the whole American Dream/expansionist project was a terrible mistake, vs. dying, and letting America and the entire planet go down the drain, 99% of the American public will choose the latter (and are doing so). Faced with opting for an authentic life, declaring "I'm a total jackass," vs. living a blind, self-destructive life, any random American plucked off the street will choose the latter.
Anjin-
He looks like a true American (bland, empty).
mb
Speaking of ‘wanting to change without changing’, the earlier comments about therapy, good therapists vs. bad, and The Sopranos, I remembered a moment back when I was an intern in the late 90s, saying to my clinical supervisor that so many people that came in for therapy seemed to be asking ‘how can I not really change anything about my f’ed up life, but still feel good about it’. Our organization was highly invested in ‘solution focused brief therapy’, it was called. Now a clinic I used to work at doesn’t have ‘therapists’ anymore - they’re Mental Health Technicians. To tie it all in with the Sopranos I was thinking about the distinction between Dr. Melfi, more a proper ‘analyst’ vs. what her own psychiatrist says re: Tony, ‘refer him to a behaviorist’. But I suppose it all comes down to Tony’s opening remarks in the beginning of the very first episode almost 24 years ago, “lately I get the feeling I came in at the end, that the best is over”. What would he say now? Anyway that's my free association today...
ReplyDeletehttps://sopranosautopsy.com/season-1-3/1-01-pilot/
Sr-
ReplyDeleteIf he had half a brain, he wd say, "What was that all about?" Like the American public at large, the motivation of the Soprano crowd came down to money, nothing more. The brilliant denoument of David Chase is that all of those guys wind up polishing each other off, eating each other alive. Their lives boiled down to violence and stupidity: the US in microcosm. It too is committing suicide on a gross level.
mb
3 GREAT AMERICAN DOUCHE BAGS
ReplyDelete1. Reince Priebus. With a name like that, you know the guy's a turkey. White House Chief of Staff as of January of 2017, serving there until August of the same year when he resigned following several "errors of judgement" – his tenure was the shortest of any White House Chief of Staff. A total bozo.
2. Speaking of bozos, what about Bebe? (Happily no longer w/us.) One journalist called Rebozo "Nixon's bagman." He was investigated for accepting covert payments of $100,000 on behalf of Tricky Dick. In 1976, he was the subject of a bank fraud investigation. He was a bozo for another bozo. His name was also a joke.
3. Dan Quayle. VP to Bush Sr. This clown went down to Latin America somewhere to give a speech. He stepped up to the microphone and said, "I'd love to talk to you, but I don't speak Latin." Shmuck City.
Only 3 of the thousands of assholes that have been, or are, in the American gov't.
mb
MB,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be so sure about Teller's X-ray lasers not being Jewish space lasers, had they worked. Teller was Jewish, after all.
Naturally there are tee shirts available for the Secret Jewish Space Laser Corps:
https://www.teeshirtpalace.com/products/sjs0014408-secret-jewish-space-laser-corps-t-shirt?color=black&size=L&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-oqdBhDfARIsAO0TrGE8KVaV55g0M7B68I7UHf2IZXbMAyaBU-QJ4qXWfLgE3nRJc5239zUaAtnYEALw_wcB
ccg-
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that his rabid anti-Communism was more a product of his being Hungarian, than being Jewish. Let me also add that abt a yr ago, I bought 2 Jewish Space Laser T-shirts, and wear them proudly. I am hoping, however, that the company that sold these is busy turning out toilet paper with Marjorie Taylor Greene's face on it.
mb
US says it seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every American
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/us-says-it-seized-enough-fentanyl-in-2022-to-every-american/
Kind of headline you'd think was from N Korea.. This is a failed state. We're just rearranging the furniture on the deck of the Titanic..
Sorry, I missed the link last time. Here it is https://www.noemamag.com/the-tyranny-of-time/
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wanted to refer to the reenchantment bk, not WAF (consequences of working late, I guess). Chapter 2 it is where you discuss linear vs circular conceptions of time, and how with the advent of capitalism time began to be measured quantitatively, and to be equated to money. What the article tries to argue is that by using mechanical, or even better, atomic clocks, clocks in general, we have taken time away from any and all of its natural foundations.
Indian-
ReplyDeleteConsider old vs. new watches. The former had the hands rotating in a circle, imitating the motion of the earth (and planets). The new ones, most of them, are purely digital--related to 0, really. And we become nothing, as a result.
C.J.-
We are committing suicide on both the national and the individual level; macro/micro. This is how empires die. Kim, Kanye, Reince Priebus, Gisele Bundchen, Jewish Space Lasers--it's all the detritus of a dying civilization. And who in the world runs around w/a name like Bebe Rebozo?
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI tell you, it's not acceptable for public figures to run around w/names like Bebe Rebozo and Reince Priebus. Happily, Bebe is 6 feet under, but what to do abt Reince? I propose that Congress pass a law making it a capital crime to have the name Reince Priebus. Normally, I am opposed to capital punishment, but this name is totally unacceptable. So as a nation, let's take care of the poor shmuck, and his ridiculous name, once and for all.
mb
Tis’ the Season to Be Jolly, ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha Ha!
ReplyDeleteUSAins screaming loudly, ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha Ha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PFZVwLHB2k
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Joe-
ReplyDeleteMassive buttocks!
mb
@ CJ.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Fentanyl use in America:
Dr. Berman has rightfully pointed out that Americans are engaged in snuffing out 'experience' as much as possible with drugs. Life in America is so brutally painful that Americans would rather not feel anything at all.
That's where we are. We eat antidepressant pills like breakfast cereal because few of us risk asking the question: "What if this system itself is what's making us sick?"
We're completely alienated from our own bodies.
So now, 'mindfulness' is the new cure. The American version! Certainly not the Buddhist version that asks you to look upon your fellow human being with compassion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xMEG89hMlI
Xen-
ReplyDeleteMindfulness is actually a good thing, but leave it to America to turn it into a commercial hustle. There isn't a single idea or practice that capitalism can't make into a marketable commodity, and that includes anti-capitalism. When 'revolution' was in the air in the late 60s, magazines like Cosmo hosted ads from companies like Revlon, with slogans like "Revolution in Deodorants!"
Anyway, 2 bks you might enjoy:
-Bessel van der Kolk, "The Body Keeps the Score"
-Avram Alpert, "The Good-Enough Life"
mb
Our gal Tulsi lookin' good sinking her canines into the American crap zelensky worship on Tucker's show.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should make a statue of MB chiseling a statue of Tulsi
https://youtu.be/ukJMVNNYKFI
comrade-
ReplyDeleteI love her. Plainly put, I love her. And I will support Tulsism to my dying day.
mb
Too bad one of the focuses of the Tulsi/Fox piece is “suppression” (give me a break) of Ukrainian Christians. Fox ‘News’ shows its biases….
ReplyDeleteWanna see Amerikkkan declinism in action? Behold some footage of a crowd dispersing after shots were fired in a downtown DC subway stop. There was also a fight between 2 guys who ended up falling over the railing. Grab some popcorn!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/video-people-run-metro-platform-deadly-shooting-metro-center/65-9fdc2aee-ae02-4d1b-9eca-671b3ea201d8
Amerikkka is a third-world pit of guns & violence now w/ the illusion of being the "Land of the Free & Home of the Brave". It's no wonder that foreign visitors are on a downhill slide
Sven-
ReplyDeleteNote that Troy Bullock is referred to as "the Bullock"--! I love it.
Kev-
You need to elaborate on that. Meanwhile, my own disapptment is that Tulsi failed to get to the real issue: that this is a phony war; that the Ukraine is merely a pawn in a (resurrected) cold war w/Russia.
mb
Don't worry US-ers about your no universal healthcare, endless war mongering-imperialism, no education without loans, employment at whim/will doctrine, FATCA-citizenbased double taxation, poor infrastructure, etc.etc..
ReplyDeleteThis is what the "news" is concerned with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDtAT2yFdZo
Gotta admit, they do look delish.
Ro-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. We have a half-pg-max rule on this blog.
Dr. Shit-
In Tolstoy's story, "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," Ilyich realizes, 3 days b4 he dies, that his entire life has been a pile of shit. Most Americans will die w/o 3 days, or even 3 mins, of awareness. But can you imagine what it wd be like, if the population suddenly declared, "I'm a degraded buffoon!" Short of that, there is no stopping our downward trajectory.
mb
ReplyDeleteHo! Ho! Ho! A shooting at a typical venue for USAins: a shopping mall. That’s the Christmas spirit! LOL!
But some of the store owners, Nordstrom in particular, aren’t in a jovial mood. Their respective bottom lines are going to take a hit. After all, that’s the only thing that matters in this miserable country.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/12/24/Mall-America-department-store-shooting/2441671885081/
And of course that jolly Yule Tide spirit is alive and well in the Big Apple!
https://nypost.com/2022/12/23/man-slashed-in-face-in-deli-near-rockefeller-tree-in-midtown/
https://www.audacy.com/wcbs880/news/local/man-with-bat-and-dog-goes-on-rampage-in-harlem-restaurant
Perhaps the examples above, the Christmas holidays notwithstanding, are just part and parcel of the average daily smiling “Have a nice day” altruistic mentality here in the “land of exceptionalism”.
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
I really enjoyed this talk by John Micheal Greer about the decline of the industrial-capitalist system. I like that he sees this as something positive and inevitable. There is so much mental resistance against accepting this decline that can manifest as denial, the idea that technology will save us, utopia, fanaticism, cults, distractions like phony wars, etc.
ReplyDeleteEpisode 25 - John Michael Greer w/ Ashley Colby, Jason Snyder, and Steven Morris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9w6tyWV4Us
If we can get rid of these mental blocks, then the idea of Dual Process as discussed by Dr. Berman here becomes very attractive: https://morrisberman.blogspot.com/2016/05/dual-process-only-game-in-town.html
This essay is also relevant to this discussion: https://morrisberman.blogspot.com/2013/05/immoderate-greatness.html
Quoting from Article: "Cultural solutions," says Wendell Berry, "are organisms, not machines, and they cannot be invented deliberately or imposed by prescription."
Creating parallel systems as this one declines is a process and can seem overwhelming, but maybe if we start with little steps in the right direction, we might be able to tackle this challenge much better than we think we can.
As MB points out: “Only 4 great thinkers identified the problem as The American People: Mencken, Carlin, Gore, and--moi!.” But in 2023, aren’t these 4 thinkers *also* authentic declinists? I wondered after listening to this 1 min. clip of Carlin:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtube.com/shorts/a9udFfIVuNA?feature=share
As an *artist*, Carlin fully embraced a declinist perspective (e.g. “not having an emotional stake in whether this experiment w/ human beings work”) Not sure of Mencken, but I do consider both Gore Vidal & MB declinists in this Carlin/“artistic” sense. In contrast to Bill Maher who’s not a declinist and -imo- why he comes off as sanctimonious even tho he nails it on American buffoonery. B/c Maher has a stake in this “experiment,” & lacks Carlin’s “distance.” But don’t you think that some Wafers —and who are *also* American citizens— *do* have an emotional stake in this American experiment? After all, we want it to end sooner rather than later! Isn’t that another reason to emigrate? Will we need that “distance” to be authentic declinists? Here’s the full Carlin interview:
https://charlierose.com/videos/19176
Dr. Sam Vaknin goes into detail on the overarching topic that Dr. Berman has been writing about for decades.
ReplyDeleteThis is a long video, but it's incredible.
"Our Cluster B Future"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bx-Mn8rzR8
If Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a 'positive' adaptation relative to the environment, why do we even bother calling it a disorder in the first place? In other words, the problem is this sick culture of hustling we've created; not necessarily the individual.
I came across this story about Twitter employees giving accounts created by the Pentagon “whitelist” status so that their accounts would show up more in algorithms. Our Pentagon officials then changed the descriptions of these accounts to appear like they were not run by the US govt so that they could compete in the information “war” against China, Iran, Russia, etc…
ReplyDeletehttps://theintercept.com/2022/12/20/twitter-dod-us-military-accounts/
Not only are our govt officials and their defense contractors acting in a deceptive manner, but Twitter executives appear complicit. Truly disgusting.
This whole thing reminds me of the colossal number douchebags that are running the Department of Defense and social media companies. When I think about how much slapping and urine it would take to make these people realize how wrong they are, I realize that recruiting for the Wafer Urine team needs to pick up. I can only hope Tulsi recognizes the need and helps out before it’s too late.
Krak-
ReplyDeletePaul Fussell wrote that everything in the US was coated w/a fine layer of fraud--and this was many yrs ago. Ronald Dworking wrote that there wasn't an institution in America that wasn't corrupt. And both these guys were patriots. Bottom line: anyone in the US who is in a position of power is dishonest.
Xen-
This is why door-to-door slapping (plus urine) finally won't work.
Ro-
I confess, I cdn't figure out what pt you were making; yr post seems confused. But I certainly agree w/u, that Bill Maher is a true-blue American. He'll have me on his show when pigs fly over the White House in V-geese formation. (Note that he shows up briefly in my novel "The Man Without Qualities.")
Noura-
There's no question that industrial-capitalist system is doomed; Robt Heilbroner pegged it back in 1976: "Business Civilization in Decline." But it will be a tortured process, and will take the rest of the century to play out. This is why the Dual Process concept is possibly of some value. Recall that link I posted a while ago, abt a group of teenagers tossing their smartphones. There's a small step 4u. There might be a tiny fraction of the country that sees the need to roll back 'progress', and institute a new definition of the word that involves human, rather than mere technological, progress. Are HMOs progress? Why not bring back the practice of home visits by doctors, such as was the norm when I was a kid? Etc.
I don't know if Greer speculates on what might follow 500 years of capitalism, but there cd be a lot on the table: decentralization, small-scale socioeconomic formations, secession, de-growth, and so on. If history is any guide, just as the shift from feudalism to capitalism brought benefits as well as a shitload of pain, the shift from capitalism to whatever will very likely do the same thing. In a word, you don't get change for free, and like it or not, there is no utopia.
Joe-
There's something oddly inspiring abt all this data of Americans stabbing and shooting each other. Sort of like Robt Duvall getting high off the smell of napalm.
mb
ps: Re: Americans killing each other. I continue to be fascinated by "The Sopranos". By the last few episodes (if not b4), members of the Cosa Nostra are not only gunning down random civilians (wh/is done quite casually), but also each other. As in America at large, they are eating each other alive, despite the hugging, kissing, and mock-community they participate in, in a ritualistic sense. Their 'friendliness' conceals deep hatreds for each other, at the depth of a dime. In addition, as in America at large, the one true value they possess is money; everything revolves around its acquisition (mostly by illegal means). So by the end, they are revealed as completely empty people; trash, in a word. I do think the writer, David Chase, knew what he was doing, what he was trying to say.
ReplyDeletemb
Dr Berman,
ReplyDeleteNo links today, I just wanted to wish you and everyone here a blessed and joyous Christmas. Thanks so much for all that you do! When you asked the question a while back "Why am I still doing this?" All I can say as that I'm deeply glad and grateful that, for whatever reason, you are still at it.
I gave my father Dark Ages America" a few years back, and actually forgot that I'd given him the book. Tonight at our Christmas Eve dinner he brought up "That book,_I can't think of the author....". I said " Barzun?" He said, "No, it was darker than that". I had no idea who he meant, till after a few other wrong guesses I said "Oh, you mean Morris Berman?" "Yes, that's it! That was a brilliant book, but goddamn it was so dark it took me a year to read it! I needed to pause a few times." I was really glad he finished it and liked it. The people at our party were mainly congenial literate types, so I made sure to explain to them who you are and why they need to read you. That said, thanks again for your tireless efforts, and for being (by leaps and bounds) America's greatest cultural critic!
Megan-
ReplyDeleteMerry Xmas to you, and thank you for your kind words. Tell your father that dark is always followed by light; it just won't happen in our lifetime. Fact is, the human spirit is never totally extinguished.
And w/that, let me say to all and sundry--including my sad, bitter enemies--HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
-mb
Happy Holidays to you and all Wafers Dr. Berman.
ReplyDeleteI just felt compelled to share this article from Reuters.
Please look carefully at the girl "playing with her dog" on the second picture.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/death-toll-rises-buffalo-frigid-cold-freezes-eastern-us-christmas-day-2022-12-25/
Instead of Jay Leno I give you some Steve Harvey and Family Fued.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeGVeBWECu8
Peace to All.
Vince
Vince-
ReplyDeleteI cdn't find a 2nd picture. As for Harvey: What dummies Americans are.
mb
Breaking 24 hour rule to answer your picture response.
ReplyDeleteMain picture in article allows you to scroll through pictures at the bottom of the picture.
Vince
HOA-
ReplyDeletePls note that we are a discussion forum, not a bulletin board. Thank you.
mb
Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMore evidence of decline, this time chicken sandwich adjacent:
https://edgeofurge.com/products/glojangles-biscuit-night-light
Yes siree! That there is an actual, once-edible biscuit made into a nightlight. It will set you back $65.
Another example from the, "capitalism can consume anything" files, holiday edition:
https://ncchristmaslights.com/
People will come to your home, put up your lights, take them down, store them away, and do it all again the next year.
Incredible. There are so many layers of pathology here, I don't know where to begin...
DTE
Dio-
ReplyDeleteWell, I do. For 2023, I'd like to suggest 2 post-its and 1 image. Wafers, pls take down yr old post-its and put up the following:
KAMALA SCHMAMALA
HEADS RAMMED IN RUMPS
These do a lot to summarize what we can expect in 2023. As for the image: it was abt a yr ago, a news item w/a pic of a guy, abt 28 yrs old, in front of a Popeye restaurant. He was holding up a chicken sandwich, and looking into the camera, he said: "Thank you Jesus for my chicken sandwich." I suggest 2u that this pathetic buffoon, and this scene, is representative of most of America.
There is an old sci-fi theme, of the earth being like a lint trap. The rest of the cosmos is fine; the earth, however, collects people who don't know how to relate to other people. Now shrink it down. Imagine that most of the rest of the world (earth) knows how to relate to other people. America, however, is the lint trap. It collects people who are stupid, violent, and emotionally crippled. People like you see in "The Sopranos." People who thank Jesus for chicken sandwiches. Lint = dregs; the dregs of humanity.
Wd such people be material for a revolution?
Wd such people be interested in social change?
Do such people have anything other than chopped liver inside their heads?
THESE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS!
-mb
Merry Christmas Dr. Berman.
ReplyDeleteYou've done so much good work and have not gotten nearly enough credit for it. Well I am grateful for what you have done. You are the voice of sanity, sense, and marvelously good wit. Good wishes to you and everyone in the coming year.
--Ginger Snaps.
PS - I hope I don't need a citation for the sentiment, I know that's in the rules :).
MB,
ReplyDeleteYour mention of an old sci-fi theme reminded me of an old sci-fi novella, The Marching Morons, by Cyril Kornbluth in Galaxy magazine in 1951. Here's a synopsis of it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons
I just love the title. I don't seeing this novella being discussed previously on this blog.
Someone should do an updated version of this that could be called The Marching High IQ Morons. I especially have in mind the high IQ morons who think it's a great idea to escalate the war in Ukraine just because they think having a proxy war with Russia is a great idea just because they moronically think Putin gave us Trump. Just an idea.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit reminiscent of the film "Idiocracy," I think. As for the hi-IQ morons: I doubt they thought thru the war in the Ukraine with any amt of depth or planning. Like the rest of the American pop., they are extremely gullible. Whatever the gov't says, they go along w/it, including waving the Ukrainian flag and cancelling courses in Russian lit. Folks like Scott Ritter or John Mearsheimer are of no consequence to them, because finally, they just react emotionally; they don't think at all. This is something like 99% of the country. And if it weren't the Ukraine, it wd be Taiwan; and if not Taiwan, Chad, or Bulgaria, or Antarctica (commie penguins!). America is a path without a heart (Castaneda); to hide that fact, it is endlessly involved in some kind of opposition, including war. Plus, it has no self-awareness at all; an endless landscape of buffoons.
In addition, American morons aren't marching. They sit on the couch, eat fast food and drink beer, and believe whatever the TV tells them. Dolts, in a word.
Ginger-
Thank you for your appreciation. Just call me Cassandra. As I approach 80, I've been thinking abt an epitaph for my headstone. Here's one possibility:
I KEPT TRYING TO TELL THEM, BUT DID THEY LISTEN? NO!
-mb
Chad, or Bulgaria, or Antarctica, or Albania...
ReplyDelete'Why Albania?' 'Why not?' This one is a dialogue from the 1997 film 'Wag the Dog'. I strongly recommend it to the Wafers (not sure if it has been already discussed here). For me, it was the Chronicle of the Iraq War Foretold, having lived through that phase in the US. In addition, superlative performance from two outstanding actors--Robert de Nero and Dustin Hoffman.
Peace on earth; good will to men. LOL! Certainly not here in the garbage dump of Planet Earth.
ReplyDeleteLet’s see. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day itself there have been 134 folks shot, 56 folks of them fatally as I print this. Only here. What a country!
https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/last-72-hours
Highlight: A murder/suicide at a Jehovah’s Witness hall. Yeah. That Christian love in the Christmas spirit is manifested again.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/25/us/colorado-jehovahs-witnesses-homicide-investigation-dead/index.html
And of course a typical daily murder on the road. One family member won’t be coming home on this biggest of national holidays.
https://www.wsmv.com/2022/12/26/metro-police-investigate-road-rage-murder-i-24/
( p.s. When the Day of Reckoning arrives here all around this globe will sing to that Christmas tune: “Joy to the World. This county’s toast. Let earth cheer its demise.”)
Indian-
ReplyDeleteA link wd be nice.
mb
Dr. Berman, I have a serious, possibly sensitive question for you if you don't mind. I can’t help noticing that on the Ukraine-Russia issue, a large majority of influential American Jews seem to be passionately pro-Ukraine and are using their influence to spread the “Russia bad, Ukraine good” line without any nuance. Can you shed any light on why is this might be the case? Why the animosity toward the country that stopped Nazi Germany, losing 20+ million people in the process, versus Ukraine, which enthusiastically embraced Nazism? It seems to be a significant element in this proxy war which I don’t hear being discussed much. Is there some special significance of Ukraine for a lot of American Jews? Thanks for any insights you can offer.
ReplyDeleteTree-
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking.
Frankly, yr guess is as gd as mine. The thing w/Russia: its treatment of the Jews, for centuries, was pretty dark, and except for a brief intermission, this continued in the Soviet era. (See work of Simon Dubnow, among others.) Persecution of Jews under Stalin, for example, was pretty brutal. Jews were desperate to immigrate to Israel or the US during the modern period, and in those countries, these immigrants tend to be pretty rt-wing. So Jewish opposition to Russia is not surprising; in addition, Jews have it pretty gd in the US, so their allegiance to virtually anything American tends to be strong. That being said, probably the worst treatment of Jews anywhere in the world has been in the Ukraine (Cossack pogroms, in particular). So why there is this blindness of American Jews to this very well-established fact is completely beyond me, esp. since statistically speaking, Jews are apparently the smartest ethnic group on the planet (e.g., they always rise to the almost-top layer of every society they inhabit). Maybe we have here another case of hi-IQ morons, I dunno.
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteThanks for your occasional mention of Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." I finally looked it up and I have to say that it does indeed reflect the lives of many typical Americans- even one's self, if we are honest. Wafers might like to investigate the story, which, for the first time, has been told in opera. Here are some links to print articles and a short video-
https://operawire.com/the-meaning-of-life-death-how-john-young-alan-olejniczak-reconnected-to-create-death-of-ivan-ilych-for-opera-orlando/
In this one, you can download the playbill and read a brief synopsis-
https://operaorlando.org/ivan
A critical review of the opera's premiere in Chicago-
https://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2021/09/death-of-ivan-ilych-receives-stirring-premiere-from-thompson-street-opera/
A concise 7-1/2 minute video related to Tolstoy's novella itself, "Death and Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich"-
https://youtu.be/tMQTXBbAbgk
Excellent essay in the latest Harper's on 'exit' of the elite: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/01/exit-technologists-libertarianism/
ReplyDeleteWe're better off without them, of course, but what ruins will they leave?
The essay goes along nicely with Douglass Rushkoff's latest book: "Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires." https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Richest-Escape-Fantasies-Billionaires/dp/0393881067/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1TTP0GXLWAROP&keywords=survival+of+the+richest+douglas+rushkoff&qid=1672074360&s=books&sprefix=survival+of+the+%2Cstripbooks%2C1185&sr=1-1
MB, If you allow another post, here is a link to info on Wag the Dog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog
ReplyDeleteTrailers are available on imdb and rottentomatoes too.
I gotta rant: Materialism sux! I love my family but they see nothing wrong with indebting themselves to buy crap that is instantly discarded after a childish feeling of excitement.
ReplyDeleteHow about reminiscing about declinists of years gone by:
https://inthesetimes.com/article/elites-are-clueless-and-so-on
Dr. Berman- True, my last post doesn’t make its point & now even falls flat to me. I think that indicates a blind spot on my part. But I can talk abt the topic of “hi-IQ morons.” After reading thru the transcript of George Carlin’s (1996!) Interview with Charlie Rose, I listened to Kurt Andersen’s 2017 interview where he talks abt his book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire:
ReplyDelete[Rose]: “So how do we come out of this?”
[Andersen]:”That’s a good question. And, you know, I mean, we've known each other a long time, I am not a declinist or, oh, the sky is falling guy.”
Contrast that w/ [Carlin]: “Well, we've all seen a lot of comedians who seem to have a political bent in their work, and always implicit in the work is some positive outcome. That this is all going to work, if only we do this, if only we pass that bill, if we only elect him, if only we do that. It's not true, it's circling drain time for humans. I believe this, I honestly believe this, not just as a comedian… .”
IMO, to avoid Rose’s query (how do we come out of this?) Andersen buttresses it with: “we’ve known each other for a long time.” Does that mean they’re friends? But for me, I can’t forget William Blake’s “Opposition is true Friendship.” So let’s be real: who’s our true friend here? I’ll stick with Carlin.
https://charlierose.com/videos/31131
Ro-
ReplyDeleteI only ask that you contemplate how many Americans need to be beaten w/in an inch of their lives, and then thrown on a dung heap. The reason we are circling the drain is that we are trashy, stupid people. We want to make war on Russia (via the Ukraine), while they understand that the one word that describes us is poshlost.
Flab-
See my reply to Ro.
Kev-
See my reply to Ro.
In general, I ask all Wafers to spend 5 mins. at the midnight hr on Dec. 31, in wh/you contemplate the degradation, and the debasement, of your fellow citizens.
mb
ps: another post-it for yr bathrm mirror:
ReplyDeleteNO AMOUNT OF SLAPPING
NO AMOUNT OF URINE
(true, dat)
Buy! Buy! Buy! Consume! Consume! Consume! More! More! More! Inflation? High prices? No problem at all. The big fat USAin general public shall buy it anyway! LOL! Long live Christmas!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/12/26/holiday-retail-sales-jumps-76-over-2021-despite-spending-slowdown/?sh=514b5ee54c66
https://time.com/6243565/holiday-sales-inflation/
That’s in addition to all the packed arenas and stadiums where USAins ( mainly men) with alacrity pay an average $100 a ticket for a major league sports event, $40 to park, and $20 for a beer and a hot dog all year round. ( A quote from below: “Despite inflation being at an all-time high, demand for live sports is rising steadily”.) So once again, here’s proof of the REAL first law of USAin capitalist Economics 101: “As the price goes up, the demand goes up.” LOL!
https://country1037fm.com/listicle/carolina-panthers-ticket-prices-have-one-of-highest-increases-in-nfl/
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/22/inflation-is-rising-but-fans-are-paying-for-nba-nfl-other-sports-tickets.html
And with this inexorable consumerist wasteland also being a de facto Christian theocracy when the game’s over, the “greed is good” mantra certainly applies to suckers in religious Ponzi schemes.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/man-charged-for-usd1-3m-ponzi-scheme-targeting-queens-church
2023 awaits. The slow disintegration/comedy show continues. Sit back and enjoy, Dr. & Wafers.
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
[Work for a lifetime]
ReplyDeleteThe Washington Post identifies artworks in the United States Capitol that feature “140 enslavers” and 13 Confederates.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/capitol-art-slaveholders-confederates/
Clear out some storage space, these works have got to go.
And the United States Military Academy, in compliance with a federal order is starting to remove Confederate statues and symbols: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/west-point-begins-removing-confederate-symbols-from-campus/ar-AA15Gq7Z.
We should start to see things improve in a matter of weeks.
Jas-
ReplyDeletePolitical correctness is the key to substantive social change.
mb
I better start drinking more water, the part of the country I live in is filled with hi-iq morons. I’ve noticed lately that dissent is even less tolerated than during the lead up to the Iraq war, which was a very dark time here.
ReplyDeleteWith so many successful, educated people one would think they would be be aware of the following:
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/u-s-life-expectancy-compare-countries/
I’d bet if I went and was allowed to present the fact that Brits and Canadians live longer despite smoking and drinking much more I would be met with disbelief or derision.
@Noura, Thanks for sharing the episode of Doomer Optimism featuring JMG. It was worth the time. But let me tell you something abt my life. I was born just abt a couple of decades after the British had left India, reducing it to an economic wasteland. Our generation, in rural or semi-urban areas, grew up in a situation, which would not qualify as an industrial way of life. Few ppl or flew in air-planes. Public transport was the norm. We did not have the guarantee of 24X7 power supply or water supply. We could not think of turning on the air-cond or heater whenever we felt uncomfortable. There simply were no ACs in ppl's homes. But we had the lakes/ponds to jump into and swim. We could guess/predict (I still can) if it is gonna rain. I still can sense if there is something unusual abt the weather. We knew which flower blooms under what conditions and so forth. In short, we were much much closer to nature, and we had the local community.
ReplyDeleteMy point of saying this is that the younger gen, particularly in industrial societies, may find something of value in our life experiences.
Wafers, have a great New Year.
MB,
ReplyDeleteWe know Amerikkkans try to fill the deep chasm of emptiness via electronic toys & (anti)social media, since the nation never had a soul or purpose beyond hustling. But how did folks fill their void in the pre-internet days before all this came along?
Fly-
ReplyDeleteI'd like to say chopped liver, but I'm sure that'd be wrong. TV, drugs, alcohol, keeping busy, chasing $, traveling, trashy movies, etc.
mb
ps: Fly: food, endless round of meaningless social events, workaholism, religion...
ReplyDeleteWafer Fly,
ReplyDeleteIn my neck of the woods ( Long Island, suburban N.Y.) pre internet, circa late 1970’s through the early 1990’s, I remember vividly folks spending their time: playing Atari/Nintendo games; watching and being fascinated by “videos” on MTV; traveling ( mainly by bus) to Atlantic City to gamble; spending ( at the momentarily hip) time inside TGI Fridays and restaurant/discos; ( as our good Doctor mentioned) watching, listening to, and being taken in by religious televangelist hustlers like Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell and James Bakker; fighting in stores over cabbage patch dolls; hustling in real estate during “the Go-Go 80’s” when home prices inexplicably suddenly skyrocketed; and doing all of these things while maxing out credit cards during the free wheeling Reagan credit/deficit presidency.
Check out the cabbage patch doll videos, especially the bottom one in the store where the adult grabs a doll out of a child’s hand. This country sucked then and its people were as lowdown and pathetic as they are now. So this era definitely contributed to the ongoing demise of this shitty wasteland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzfuo94KCe8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaQuxCWWTaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsQaVfTmHl0
p.s. A big thank you to our good Doctor for introducing me to this wonderful scholar. This sage is right on the mark about this disgusting country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQn-T6awYto
Here's an example of something that Dr. Sam Vaknin has spoken about at length.
ReplyDeleteIn Western societies, relations between men and women have never been lower than they currently are. His contention is that this really IS a new phenomenon.
https://youtu.be/lMM4iwkD3o8
Example:
https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1608056944501178368
I can't say I know FOR SURE if it's ever been worse, but between the depraved 'manosphere' and its feminine counterpart, it sure seems like the 2 sexes really hate each other.
Death-oriented values, indeed.
Xen-
ReplyDeleteNote that I am an equal opportunity slapper.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI think we can agree that this guy is Douchebag of the Year. But how is it that Tulsi, who has no political standing whatsoever, gets to interview him?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/28/tulsi-gabbard-george-santos-fox-news-interview
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI just got a message from Truthdig that it is coming back. Does this mean that the great plagiarist and revolutionary, Chris Hedges, is coming back? God Almighty, say it isn't so.
mb
Rock-
ReplyDeleteCdn't run it. You provided no links or refs. We're big on evidence here.
mb
USian "hero" for blocking thrown chair at a fast "food" shit house.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11579759/Waffle-House-turns-wrestling-ring-customer-launches-chair-worker.html
US-ers have no health care system, but apparently waffles make them very passionate. Priorities.
Glans-
ReplyDeleteThese women are Americans in the truest sense.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteAn image for New Yrs Eve: 336 million turkeys rushing toward a cliff.
mb
ps: For the WashPost, this is news:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/29/buccal-fat-removal-sculpted-cheeks/
Ordinary Indian, my pleasure! It’s ironic that it might take a collapse for America to potentially embrace the kind of life you are describing as centered around community and closer to nature.
ReplyDeleteDr Berman, in this presentation, Dr. William Rees definitely agrees with your assessment that there is no utopia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3GB191UDiI
The premise of his presentation is that the human enterprise is already in a state that he calls ecological overshoot as well as cultural overshoot. He explains why we are not addressing these issues in spite of all the data and the tools available to us. This is a well-rounded talk that quantifies the human impact on the environment and looks at relevant factors such as neoliberalism, social constructs, technology, etc.
One of my favorite sections starts at time stamp 15:54: it’s a chart of the human population growth going back 10,000 BCE. The human population exploded from 1 billion to 7.5 billion in just approximately 200 years. Fossil fuels enabled humankind to escape the negative feedbacks that kept our population in check. We are basically going through a boom and bust cycle which is a common pattern to non-human species introduced to initially resource-rich ecosystems. Maybe this period of human history is like a mirage, a very tiny blip in the history of humankind that recent generations not only take to be the norm, but also believe will last forever. From this point of view, Freud was right when he said, “America is a mistake, a giant mistake”. This talk really puts in perspective how giant this mistake was, lol!
Noura-
ReplyDeleteCa. 1985 Doris Lessing did a series of lectures on the CBC entitled something like "Prisons We Choose to Live Inside." She made the pt that we have all the info we need to avert disaster, and yet refuse to act on it. I think the lecs were later published as a small bk.
mb
Links from Rock
ReplyDeleteFor Rolling Stones album you get ads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOKOjy186yI&list=PLL-NbN8uTOijRy_j7d5LJPIY0rSSE_nRJ
Before your movie, the same
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlHLSqvFd-o
Seems that there's no limit to unwanted ads that you can pay to have
them removed. Watch out for "ad blockers" everywhere on-line.
Out of perverse curiosity, I've been reading Stephen Pinker's "Better Angels, A History of Violence and Humanity". Just a few observations. First, make sure to read John Gray's excellent response to the book (It was posted here before, but just so you have it handy):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/13/john-gray-steven-pinker-wrong-violence-war-declining
It is actually a fairly readable book, with some interesting data and history. But I think the main weakness of the book is his preoccupation with violence (Which Pinker argues has declined drastically) as the main measure that shows "life is getting better". There are two issues, however, which neither Gray nor Pinker touch upon. The first is that the "Leviathan State", which Pinker praises for civilizing people and decreasing violence, has become quite literally the main engine for destroying the planet (Which I think should be considered "violence".) In 80 years, it is highly probable that climate change will lead to monumental upheavals and social chaos. (Farewell, Long Peace) Secondly, the modern Leviathan has created a kind of "anti-enlightenment" in many countries like America (outside of the Harvard faculty lounge!)and Britain, where vast numbers of people are utterly dumbed down, and live atomized, unhappy and meaningless lives. Yet the collapse of "meaning" is something that Pinker doesn't even mention. Longer lives, yes, but lonely, anxious, anomic, and rootless lives. How do you weigh that in the "hedonistic calculus"? All I know is that I'd rather be a Medieval washerwoman who died at 45, than Jeff Bezos! At any rate, here is Pinker giving a summary of the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5X2-i_poNU
Some alternative history for the blog: marking the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Soviet Union, what if the USSR had never collapsed? Curious if in say 100yrs they'll be writing alt histories of if the USA never collapsed..
ReplyDeletehttps://unherd.com/2022/12/what-if-the-ussr-hadnt-collapsed/
Megan-
ReplyDeleteI don't have the citations at hand, but there were a # of critiques of the bk that were fairly devastating.
mb
Striking a 92 year old mother. Abandoning a baby in the woods. Almost scamming someone out of his personal property online. Succeeding in scamming someone out of $280 during the Holiday gift giving season. And running over your wife in front of your kids. But the last one had the “courtesy” to tell his kids to put on their seat belts. Ah the actions of USAins never cease to amaze us.
ReplyDeletehttps://fox17.com/news/nation-world/susan-delaney-accused-of-battering-92-year-old-mother-wrench-december-27-2022
https://fox17.com/news/nation-world/daughter-of-mlb-hall-of-fame-pitcher-accused-of-abandoning-newborn-baby-in-woods-dennis-eckersley-alexandra-infant-naked-cold-child-felony-endangerment-manchester-new-hampshire#
https://www.wral.com/six-figure-scam-attempt-raleigh-man-s-land-nearly-sold-online-by-impersonator/20647086/
https://www.wral.com/raleigh-mom-gets-swindled-out-of-280-trying-to-buy-gift-for-son/20630812/
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nyc-dad-told-sons-keep-seatbelts-on-ran-over-wife-pros
Is this society sick or what? Or perhaps is it downright evil, unconscionable, and debased? But pay no attention to that. Let’s instead focus all of our attention on Vladimir Putin.
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Vince-
ReplyDeleteCdn't run it (half-pg-max rule).
mb
Dr. Berman—
ReplyDeletePolitical dishonesty moves to new heights in the US on a regular basis. But New York rep George Santos' defense of deliberately falsifying his resume as "embellishment", rather than lying, seems to be the next great step into the steaming heap for a country ever more clearly divorced from reality. And will the voters really care? One has to wonder... a little...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsVgTbP5pPs
Is "The Sopranos" a metaphor for America at large?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.popmatters.com/david-chase-the-sopranos-2495942088.html
ps: also this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/the-sopranos-closing-the-door
Maybe one can say that the show depicts the final phase of capitalism, where the characters are eating each other alive. Isn't that what America is finally abt, has come down to? What will it take for Americans to realize that the Dream is really a Nightmare?
MB - in connection with the Sopranos, this scene has always stuck with me. "It's all a big nothing!"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHfhbk-oPFw
In many ways I agree (and also disagree) but at least Livia wasn't trying to fill her grandson's head with fluffy lies.
Not sure if this scene can be looked at as a metaphor for the USA. Perhaps the writer was articulating something about our spiritual emptiness?
Of course, as a kind of pseudo Buddhist, a big nothing just a part of our reality.
Baron-
ReplyDeleteSpiritual emptiness = metaphor for US, no?
As far as buddhism goes, note that there is nothing, and then there is nothing. One type is very full.
mb
Has there been much discussion here about the phenomena of ‘nomads’? The folks living out of cars, campers and Rv’s? I remember some talk about the movie ‘Nomadland’ around the time it was out, but how about as an example of dual process?
ReplyDeleteI have a retired friend who built his own van and does this for moderate stretches throughout the year. He tells me he’s consistently surprised by how agreeable and ‘human’ the people he meets out on the road are. The CheapRV living channel on YouTube is mostly practical information, but when he diverts into philosophical matters, sounds a bit like an NMI to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kChFsQlFywI&t=32s
Sr-
ReplyDeleteA gd film, I thought. For an historical overview of nomadism, check out my bk WG.
mb
MB - Check out Jonathan Cook's review of the new "Avatar" movie. Cook seems to be a kindred spirit, pointing out that a Hollywood blockbuster like this can't help us no matter how "right" its message is.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2022-12-31/avatar-navi-murderous-humans/
For him, too, it comes down to the difference between intellectual and ontological knowing:
"Knowing something to be true with our minds is not the same as understanding its truth, feeling its truth. Which is why in our supremely interconnected digital worlds, with platforms providing infinite possibilities for virtual exchange, we have become so alone, so lost."
terra-
ReplyDeleteV. gd. quote, thank you. Yes, that's the crucial pt. As we approach the new yr, ask yrself this: can a population of 336 million, w/very poor intellectual skills, and abs. no ontological skills, turn around a dying nation? What % of that # is capable of switching from hustling as a way of life, to healing as a way of life? .0000000001%? (I'm being generous.)
Happy New Yr, boychik-
mb
ps:
ReplyDeleteThe Unknown Citizen
-W. H. Auden
(To JS/07 M 378
This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
Rockwell declares that goddam 'mur'ka has NO reason to continue to
ReplyDeletethink of itself as a civilized country after seeing that YouTube dares to mar classical music with ads. Go to around 10:10 in this piece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdWE9L0f9ik
Great news, Dr. Berman. Although this system is heading for collapse and the effects will likely be severe, global, and probably environmentally irreversible, fashionistas have noticed. Now, we can all look chic for the apocalypse:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thecut.com/2022/12/2022-apocalypse-fashion.html
Happy new year. Thanks for having this blog.
Alex-
ReplyDeleteCapitalism can absorb anything. The collapse will be chic, I have no doubt. Yr welcome.
Rock-
You cd do the country a great service if you were to develop a Wafer Slapping Program (WSP). Then we cd go door to door and apply it.
mb
New Year's greetings to Wafers everywhere from Cascadia. To mark the beginning of another circuit around our orb, in the past month we got rid of the last TV in the house, hardly watched in recent years, and finally discontinued our cable TV service (had to wait a half hour in the queue at our local cable store to do that), thereby cutting our monthly billing by almost two-thirds to retain internet service only. We stream/watch DVDs on our remaining two monitors and selectively follow podcasts, and much prefer listening to music from our CD library. And time for books and crosswords! There's a certain feeling of liberation that comes from reducing the amount of messaging intruding from commodity civilization. I add my thanks to MB for keeping this blog going as we all report on the times that are declinin'.
ReplyDeleteJack-
ReplyDeleteSmart move. TV has been a major factor in the moronization of the American public. In terms of decline, however, we can be grateful that the vast majority will not follow yr example.
mb
Wafers - I'm glad to see That Dr. Berman is recommending the pioneering Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD's 2015 book, "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma". This is far and away the most important work out of many in the field of mental health that I, for one, have read and if there's anyone out there who doesn't need to read it, well... I can't imagine who it might be. Is there a relationship there to the subject of this blog? Perhaps, and at every level of cause and effect but, as far as that goes, any of you who've read it or are going to will be drawing your own inferences...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/s?
k=the+body+keeps+the+score&i=stripbooks&crid=2BF9WSDRGV3XJ&sprefix=the+body%2Cstripbooks%2C86&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_8
Someone put together a list of things that signal Amerikkka's curtain call. Most of these will be of no surprise to the folks on this blog. I found a couple of golden nuggets, however:
ReplyDelete"America is a piece of glass that has been shattered into 331 million shards, each stabbing the next in a frantic fight for survival"
"All empires fall. It’s a non-negotiable. It’s just a matter of when, how, and how hard"
https://survivingtomorrow.org/10-signs-america-is-headed-for-certain-collapse-914d843e4432
Though I don't understand #4. Homeownership in crisis? Maybe part of that crisis is some realizing that the Amerikkkan "dream" is a fiction?
Fly-
ReplyDeleteIt's all over but the shouting.
Heidi-
Kolk is describing the microlevel of the American collapse, the total alienation of Americans from their bodies. Writ large, it translates into what we do to ourselves, each other, foreign policy, the environment, etc. What is ailing us on a somatic and soul level doesn't get dealt with; instead, we make war. (The 'enemy' is always, inevitably, 'out there'; it's never us.) For Kolk, this is the result of not being in the body; for Ernest Becker, it's the fear of death; for me, running from the Void (see CTOS). For 99+% of the American population, the wake-up moment will never come.
mb
The good news is that half the states do not have half the population.
ReplyDeleteThe bad news is that hospitals in the smaller states have worse food.
Best to get shot in larger states with better phone-in food for their
emergency departments.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/people-now-carry-guns-without-104501617.html
Happy New Year MB and Wafers.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping we actually get a new one... I'd hate it if they recycle one from the 80s. I got a funny feeling that this year is going to be noticeably worse than last year, some kinda worm is turning. Orlov has been hiding most of his stuff behind a paywall but the free first few paragraphs of his latest column show me that the inevitable decline of the US Empire truly is a grand Karma event playing out.
https://cluborlov.wordpress.com/2022/12/30/the-last-crusade-part-ii/
I'm renting a plot in the local community garden this year since I'm an apartment dweller. Support the local sustainability movement y'know. Proly piss into the wind anytime it kicks up, too. Why waste the energy it takes to beat off, right?
Fuck the happy new year shit. I just wish for Our GSWH to be healthy, happy, and stay above ground this year.
comrade-
ReplyDeleteMany thanks. I'm feeling pretty gd these days, doing yoga, Pilates, and other alt. therapies. Kolk wd be proud of me. Meanwhile, all of my instructors are beautiful young women, so I know there's a 'god'. In general, I think it will be a fairly shitty yr for the US, but a rewarding yr for Wafers. We shall be stronger, more vibrant, and chuckle to ourselves: "What did we tell you, douche bags?"
mb
re: Better Angels, Pinker is technically correct on many levels, but the book reminded me of an episode in which George Bush [Sr. that is], not only publicly insisted that the economy was in good shape heading into the 1992 election, but apparently believed it himself. By many conventional measures, he was correct. Gas prices had been on the decline, stock market and GDP were performing well, certainly trends most Americans would be thrilled with today. However, the unemployment rate continued to climb into 1992. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-economy-under-george-hw-bush-2012-7
ReplyDeleteThis leads us to larger questions as to what productive economic policy means for the masses, which I believe Dr. Berman has dealt with looking at Japan as a sort of model of post-growth society. Similarly, Pinker seems to believe that the job of government is to create a stable, law-driven society with high standards of living and that the pesky concerns of meaningful and happy lives are entirely outside its bailiwick.
Alamein-
ReplyDeleteSimilarly? I doubt I'm advocating anything of a Pinkeresque nature, amigo. For example, the so-called Satori Generation is very much concerned with living lives that are meaningful and happy. In general, I think the reversion to a Tokugawa-style, de-growth society would inevitably force people into those larger concerns, or to ask those larger questions. At least Japan has the historical example to fall back on. America, on the other hand, was born bourgeois; it has virtually 0 to fall back on.
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Wafers-
ReplyDeleteInterspersed w/their miserable lives of hustling and material acquisition in The Sopranos are startling moments of revelation that suggest there is a larger reality, and that things cd be different. This is a common phenomenon w/things like peyote: Tony screams "I get it!" as the sun comes up. Then 2 things when he is in the hospital: the sign on the bulletin board w/the Ojibwe saying, and Tony momentarily coming out of the coma and asking, "Who am I? Where am I going?" Something similar happens to Carmela on her trip to France w/Rosalie. The latter is a classic American douche baguette, her focus being on stuff like shopping in classy stores. Carmela, on the other hand, suddenly realizes that not all civilizations are built around the acquisition of $ and material goods. She sees the art and sculpture of Paris, and paintings of Madonna and child, and she is moved to tears. If Paris is the zenith of civilization, New Jersey is undoubtedly the nadir.
The problem is, w/all this transcendent breakthru, that 0 finally changes. Neither Tony nor Carmela start new lives, or become different persons. The 'change' is merely a glimpse of an alternative, 0 more. This raises a question that I've been mulling over for a long time now: What does it take to heal? For example, healing cannot, and will not, come to America; nothing cd be more obvious. But why not? Now that all is lost, we need to think abt it.
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Harvey-
ReplyDeleteWe are basically a discussion forum, not a bulletin board. You might want to re-send that link, but add a paragraph of yr own commentary. Thank you.
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Wafers-
ReplyDeleteMany yrs ago there was some demented Charles Bronson film, I forget the title, but the subtitle was "The Crackdown." One film critic reviewed it (as a disastrous pile of dog poop), and commented, "Gee, I guess he's been holding back up to now." Hee hee, that gave me a gd laugh.
Something similar might be said of the US in 2003. A headline might read: "Beating Off: America Goes into High Gear." My question for you guys is, inasmuch as we know what regular American beating off consists of, can we now state, or predict, what High Gear Beating Off (HGBO) will consist of? I look forward to your answers.
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Doctor & Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI don’t know into what category we should put this story: “You can’t make this stuff up.” “The ultra morbid.” I for one am at a loss. I mean, this is unique. But in the land of heartless, unconscionable, amoral capitalistic hustling, it only can happen here in the good old U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
https://www.denverpost.com/2023/01/03/sunset-mesa-megan-hess-sentencing/
Joe-
ReplyDeleteNot clear to me why the 2 ladies didn't bake the corpses in casserole dishes. But yes, this takes hustling to a new level.
mb
ReplyDeleteHalf way through Genocide
https://tubitv.com/movies/595391/genocide
and I'm offered an ad for a fabric softener.
Not much can be said about how low things
in the world of ads can get.
Rock-
ReplyDeleteYour homework assignment for 2023: every day, for 5 mins, contemplate how much slapping, and how much urine, wd be required to correct this sort of behavior.
mb
One can't help but note reports of the widespread looting that took place during the recent blizzard in Buffalo, NY. Since the police and security were unable to function, a number of citizens took the opportunity to loot shops.
ReplyDeletehttps://heavy.com/news/buffalo-looting-looters-video-videos-shots-fired/
This can also occur with floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and other major disasters that render law-enforcement inoperable. It happens often in the US, and in some other countries as well. However, there are other places where inhabitants have social solidarity and respect (civic pride?) and would never steal like this.
Have studies been done as to the characteristics of societies where such disaster looting (disaster capitalism?) occurs?
Quercus
Parenthood proved to be too much 4 these folks in Iowa. I suspect the rugrat was a mere fashion accessory used for attention whoring, & was promptly slaughtered once the novelty wore off
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11518599/Iowa-parents-arrested-drowning-newborn-baby-daughter-bath-stop-crying.html
Squirrel-
ReplyDeleteWhat horror, to snuff out a life like that. Check out the face of the mother.
Quercus-
Maybe looting is just hustling for poor people, I dunno. Or maybe all social relations in the US are forms of looting.
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mb
Funny headline for you MB, since you brought up The Sopranos & art/beauty: Furio from The Sopranos made a very shrewd deal in the art market, buying a baroque painting by Barbieri!
ReplyDeletehttps://news.artnet.com/art-world/sopranos-actor-discovers-10-million-guercino-117651
Also I know you admired his novel "Freedom", this article is on Frazen's first bk in his new series—a novel of ideas about the inadequacy of ideas—a book full of people thinking that dramatizes the danger of too much thought.
Too much thought, not enough body! Come to your senses, MB might say!
https://newrepublic.com/article/163898/jonathan-franzen-moralist-crossroads-review
Chaz-
ReplyDeleteAll v. interesting! Thank you for info/refs. One person in the Sopranos who played the role of a total douche bag was Russ Fegoli. See if you can dig up some links on him as well.
mb
ps: Also wanna say that my hat is off to Aida Turturro, who played Tony's sister Janice. Her ability to get vast audiences to hate her guts, confusing the person w/the role, was outstanding. That's acting!
ReplyDeleteAnother awful person was AJ jr., except that he wasn't really acting; he was just being who he is in real life, i.e., a horse's ass.
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/12/21/mother-asking-for-help-to-find-kids-at-miami-airport-injures-airline-employee-police-say/
ReplyDeleteHere is an example of a mother who lost track of her kids somehow. And, she smashes everything up when no one will help her. But, her trashing everything is not disturbing part. And, this isn't really talked about in any of the articles I found when it came to this story. In the USA, there is this sense of "it ain't my problem." And, "I have no obligation to anyone but me and my own." I imagine if I was a hurt person and I couldn't get myself to the hospital on my own how difficult it would be to get anyone to help me get to the hospital. Can we really call ourselves a civilization if there is no sense of obligation and community to the other?
cube-
ReplyDeleteScroll back, see homework assignment I gave to Rock. This is yours as well. Also check out this woman's face. A large % of American faces are downrt scary.
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Wafers-
ReplyDeleteThe kindness of America runs deep:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/alabama-botched-executions-2022-gas/672607/
Greetings GSWH and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteHo hum dept: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/01/04/baltimore-shopping-center-shooting-edmondson-westside-high-school/10990025002/
And here's a nice piece of propaganda: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/04/ukraine-democracy-investment-00076180
Bipartisan war leads to all the politicians and their cronies getting rich!
Krak-
ReplyDelete1. Everyone decried the shooting, and wrung their hands.
2. This war is so full of shit, I can't believe almost no one can see thru it. Except Mearsheimer, Ritter, Pilger, Chomsky, Macgregor--who else has their head pasted on straight? Nor is it just a case of American buffoons. Almost the entire world has sunk into buffoonery.
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Dr. B. and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI share with you a fine example of beating off: https://www.foxnews.com/auto/first-gmc-hummer-ev-suv-millions-charity
To quote a Reddit user, "I have a friend who works at GM and he told me Hummer EVs draw so much power when fast charging that just 10 can equal the amount of current the Empire State Building is rated for." (https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/yu2ljo/comment/iwabf88/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Just learned of this the other nite. An artist sued the NYPD over the removal of a mural he did in dedication to his mother & sister who were killed in a hit-and-run accident. It was part of a mission to "clean up" graffiti around NY. Seems they failed to distinguish between street art & gang tags. The aforementioned artist had permission from the property owner & city to do this painting, which was featured in books about graffiti, art tours & the like. So much for "artistic expression".
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-graffiti-artist-michael-mcleer-nypd-clean-up-program-lawsuit-20210601-6rwbjj5vdve3dl4q2vyhkmoaam-story.html
Torre, Satchmo-
ReplyDeleteFreud said entire civilizations cd be neurotic. What he failed to grasp is that entire civs cd be filled with buffoons.
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ps: I guess 'violent buffoons' wd be more precise:
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/05/us/enoch-city-utah-home-shooting/index.html
The kindness of America runs deep.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/us/blizzard-new-york-rescue-school-break-in/index.html
‘I’m fearing for my life’
Leaving Mike in the truck, he began knocking on the doors of houses lining the street to see if anyone would give them shelter.
Withey said he went to 10 households, offering each $500 to spend the night on their floor. All of them turned him away. “I plead with them, ‘Please, please can I sleep on the floor, I’m in fear for my life,’ and they say, ‘No I’m sorry’,”
Sorry is the American Way
Yer-
ReplyDeleteI suppose the real issue we hafta consider here is where was Gisele Bundchen in all of this? The way the press has been ignoring her as of late is utterly shameful.
mb
MB,
ReplyDeleteHere's some swell news about Hillary Clinton being hired as a faculty member at Columbia University:
https://news.columbia.edu/news/hillary-rodham-clinton-join-columbia-community
Maybe they have a Department of Warmongering that needs staffing. What pearls of wisdom Hillary will impart to CU students I can't imagine. The president of Columbia, Bollinger, is in serious need of vigorous slapping along with Hillary.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteHillary will give her astute, critical students the 'real story' of American foreign policy. I'm so excited.
America gets more surreal by the day.
mb