Not being able to face the hard, lonely "buck stops here" responsibility (including facing the high possibility of the void) is exactly how we got into this mess. I know many people *personally* who have blissfully ignored, for decades, where we were going because "God will provide". In my experience, there are a hell of a lot more of them than there are truly responsible believers. Living virtuously is in no way sufficient to counter intelligent psychopathy (that is, the people that believers assign the magical quality "evil"); in fact, it never has.
An honest follow-up question, Anti-Hip. What are people supposed to do? Go into a field and eat the muzzle of a shot gun and end themselves for the good of "mother Earth?" Sell all they have and become beggars on the street? Return to a hunter-gatherer tribe? I don't understand the point you are trying to make. We were born into this "blissful ignorant" lifestyles. What are people supposed to do?
That's a good question. The illusion of activism (delusion, maybe) is that YOU can change things in the world. Not really. We can only change us. Not the external world. That's why all those activists throwing fits on the street aren't effective at all. And notice how crazy they all seem.
My problem, Mary Rose, is I don't know what to do. I really don't. Everything I know to do I have done. I live debt free. I have a small modest home. I grow a garden. I have food storage. I drive old cars. I pay cash for my vacations. I vote. I contact my Congresscritters (even though I know that does no good). I have run for public office and lost each time. At this point, the only thing I can do is just live my life and try to be best I can. Everything else is pretty much out of my control.
That's where God comes in. He offers us stability in spirit. He does not want us to worry - that is stated many times. You've done all you can to take care of yourself. God will see to the rest - just trust. That's all you have to do. And don't live in fear. That's what you-know-who wants.
Yes, that is where I am at at this point in my life. Most of the croakings of doom I have endured in my 50 years on this earth have not come to fruition. I'm still waiting for the nukes to fly over the Ukraine-Russia war. I read article after article about Putin nuking Europe and more. Hasn't happened. Fear porn is real and is very addictive.
I agree, you are correct, Christianity is the answer. It is difficult to lead a Christian life in much of the world. In the West, and especially in the US, due to decadence, and in other lands, like Islamic nations, Israel, and others, due to repression.
If the path to Godliness is the right path, Catholicism was and is, the wrong path. And it spawned even more incorrect paths, Protestantism, Communism, Fascism, secular humanism, and so forth.
Orthodox Christianity is the most correct path.
The West has been at war with Orthodox Christianity, hot and cold, since the Schism.
Cankerpuss! Sounds like you're fighting the good fight and leading a good life!
We need a lot more Americans like you. I like your posts in general, because I think they make sense, and I really liked this one.
The macro things that affect our lives are largely out of our control.
I'd respectfully suggest looking into Eastern Orthodoxy, if there are any Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox (aka Orthodox Church of America), Serbian, whatever, on-line (google Metropolitan Neophytos, or Neophytos of Morphou, Cyprus). Hopefully, you will find a good priest/parish, or better a monastery.
It is Holy Week--not too late to start. Find out where they have services for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Pascha, consider it. ("Easter" is from Astrid or some such thing--some pagan northern European "goddess" or ritual of spring. Even Catholics, from Romance language places call Christ's resurrection "Pasqua". There is your first clue as to where "Western Christianity" went wrong.... no offense meant to you or anyone else her. It's PASCHA, or PASQUA, or PASSOVER--the PASSOVER of the NEW COVENANT, NOT EASTER).
This April 14th Kunstler essay was an excellent summary of the situation.
Love or hate Trump (and I never loved HIM--I loved that he beat Bush and Clinton and showed the hypocrisy of the US elites, though he continued and continues their worst practices--war and debt), the situation has been unsustainable for decades, and it looks like it will blow up on Trump's watch, or he will be the one to go a step to far and blow it up... He is unable or unwilling to stop the war in Ukraine, and continues to support the wanton slaughter of the Palestinians. He has two sets of advisors. And he is a very old man for this job.
And the Presidency is too powerful, too imperial. The US Constitution is a nice document, but more and more ignored.
And worst of all, IMO, all the other contenders are younger and worst version of him.
Personally, I think the situation feels like April 1939 (from January 1939 at the start of the year--the official start of WW2 was yet to happen, that's Germany invades Poland and lame Britain/France declare war on Germany--but there was as hot war in the Far East, as major power Japan had invaded China), with touches of the late 70s (inflation), and Sept 1973 (just before the energy crisis).
Nothing ordinary people could do about these epic, man-made events.
SC, thank you for your kind words. Your words reflect my feelings almost to a "T" (not sure what that means but it sounds good).
I have said before that I feel like I am living in a dream. A dream where I am stuck in the middle of a road and I can see a large semi truck barreling down upon me. I can't move. My feet are paralyzed. I can't get out of the way. I see that truck coming and I know that when it collides with me that it is going to hurt, maybe even kill me. But, it just doesn't arrive. It's always right there but it just never gets close enough to hit me. Knowing that eventually it will hit me is the worst part.
That's the way that I feel about the world in general. Things are broken and are way off kilter. I know it. I can see it. But, like that truck in my dream, the big one just hasn't hit yet. When it does it is going to hurt and might even kill me.
The US Constitution is nothing but fancy, old butt fodder now. The President was never intended to have as much power as he does today. The Congress was supposed to have that power but the Congress pissed away their authority decades ago as now is nothing more than a squabbling club if self-important idiots. The Judiciary was supposed to be relegated to the basement of the US Capitol. It was the least of the "separate powers" defined by the Constitution and now we have judges stifling the Executive powers with the swipe of a pen. The Senate was supposed to represent the States, not the people. Ironically, all the damage was done 60 years before I was even conceived.
Worst? I see nobody in Congress with the will, desire, or know-how to fix this mess. Trump is trying, I'll give him that, but he cannot do anything without a willing Congress. Worse than that is most Americans don't give a fuck. As long as they can buy a Whopper at Burger Thing, as long as they can buy their drugs, porn, and stuff potato chips into their mouths while they watch "The Bachelor" or the NBA, all is fine and dandy to them.
Thank you for running for office. Being virtuous AND showing up does make a difference, but it takes time. It is the example that you have set that others may be seeing without you even realizing it.
I know the County Commissioners know who I am and that I am one to take notes and feel free to share information. Some people tell me they appreciate me going to those dreadful meetings.
Three times, Elysianfield. School Board. City Council. Mayor. Lost to women in each race. I was just too damned ugly and wanted to cut too much government perks. Not popular to the majority.
You faced the gimme syndrome that is stifling the whole country. Trump will not change the country, the people have to. Or it is finished and the beacon of light will be extinguished.
Yep. I wanted to eliminate the City run golf course (I love golf), the City run swimming pool, the City run library and cut the parks department. Government, IMO, should only be providing public safety, public utilities, roads and building safety. Everything else should be private. Yep, if I had won there would have been no more City sponsored concerts in the park, July 4th parades, or Santa Comes to Town celebrations. But, I would have slashed the budget and lowered taxes. As you probably can deduce, that is not popular to the general public.
The Roman Emperors gave the mob Games in the Colosseum so keep them тАЬquietтАЭ. Today is just a repeat of the same, some things just do not change. Your platform was right on, be proud of it. The тАЬgimmesтАЭ will go down.
I see indications that Trump will change the format for life, and then your "gimme" crowd will game the new system, and he will achieve his desired results.
Countries throughout the world have bastardized their currencies in unison, and the jig is up.
What happens if the majority of countries agree to a 10% tariff that provides funding for their government, and this opens up new business activity (which increases government funding)? The consumer has to pay a higher price for goods, but there is tax relief for the lower and middle income citizens. Then they couple this with mega-projects that will be beneficial to the citizens and the world.
The tariffs are identifying the obstructionists. Trump will make deals with some of their partners (think in terms of Japan and India), and this will have the effect of busting up the 2030 Agenda holdouts, and possibly weaken the BRICS alliance, to where China agrees to cooperate, or at least is unable to obstruct the Trump agenda.
I know that tariffs are protectionist but also revenue raising. If the 10% tariff worldwide was just in addition to everything else, ie in the USA all other taxes remain, it is a money grab by government trying to cover their debt asses and everyone is 10% poorer. Why think that any of it is going to be used by government to fund anything, they are already broke.
Trump wants his tax cut continuation to be funded by tariff revenue, isnтАЩt gonna happen, the deficit just grows every year. Yes, IMHO, Trump will use his power of the purse to get advantage over other countries, that is good.
Your China view is a big thing, we will find out in short order whether China feels a need to string along with the USA demands. I would bet no, but they are in tough shape too debt wise by trying to fake out the world.
Whatever gets "tariffed", all other things being equal, people will buy less of.
So, if Americans bought $1 billion in i-phones in 2024, and you put a 20% tariff, that doesn't mean tariff revenue will be $200 million.
Some people won't pay more, so perhaps sales will drop to $900 million, and revenue will be $180 million.
If the US had a competitive, home-made smart-phone, chance are those sales would rise. Chances are also that, the makers of US i-phones would raise their prices some--especially if they were "capacity-constrained" and couldn't increase their production to meet higher demand.
One big change in the auto industry since the 1960s (and I presume other big-ticket manufactured goods), is that production is more efficient.
Besides using more automation (which requires capital expenditures up-front, and thus feeds the process below), manufacturers have removed "slack" or "extra" capacity.
Here is an excellent example that older people here can relate to: the Ford Mustang!
It came out in April 1964. From then, until the end of 1966, the ORIGINAL Mustang sold about a million cars. Home run!
Ford originally estimated 200,000 per year. The Mustang sold DOUBLE (400k per year, 1M units over 2.5 years)
Ford was able to meet demand, because car plants in those days were "looser" and had excess capacity, and could be cranked up to run faster, in addition to overtime.
Those days are long gone. PRE-PANDEMIC, ALL the automakers set up their process for max efficiency for X units. If the vehicle is more popular than expected, they can run some overtime, which they do, and they sell more highly optioned cars, or just raise the price.
They cannot just "turn the knob" and make more. Those days were gone by the late 1970s, early 1980s.
That's what "Japanese" "just in time" manufacturing is all about. No waste.
You make only what you need, when you need it. No more. No stockpiles of parts (in case the UAW goes on strike, so plant can run an extra week or month). No extra length in assembly lines to add more people. In fact, in older plants, for a while, we CUT OUT un-used conveyor work stations.
There will be winners and loser, IMO, from the tariffs. But overall, it is a losing deal. Selected tariffs on selected products/industries, would have been more useful, IMO. Who knows? We may find out.
" If the 10% tariff worldwide was just in addition to everything else, ie in the USA all other taxes remain, it is a money grab by government trying to cover their debt asses and everyone is 10% poorer."
The poor do not consume the way the rich do, so it shifts the tax burden.
" Why think that any of it is going to be used by government to fund anything, they are already broke."
My 2 cents is that this will likely be resolved by devaluation, or default. Again, devaluation impacts the upper income more than the poor. So, where is a good place for the likes of Miriam Adelson to shield her wealth from devaluation? How about a Business in America (which ends up being a productive utilization of wealth, and generates tax revenue for the government)?
No, it's popular. The game is rigged. I have numbers. Lots of people have numbers. It is going to be coming out.
When Mitch McConnell showed up on my television screen, Dec. 2020, telling me to send money to Georgia for the two U.S. Senate races runoff, I emailed the GOP of KY (who had just censured him for some reason) telling them to send M. McConnell and L. Graham out to my state. I could show those two "money solicitors" some interesting numbers. They might be led to believe, if they took "a look see," that it was possible "to bag" one of their (R) U.S. Senators out here.
And I won't even bore you with how messed up the bond issue numbers are.
Yes sounds about right. Anybody who knows how to fix problems can't get elected because the public these days won't stand for even short term pain in exchange for long term gain. Your well thought out and planned for situation sounds like you'll be okay. You must be commended for having the foresight to get to where you are. It's those in debt who will suffer terribly in the next downturn.
I said "face the hard, lonely 'buck stops here' responsibility". That's it. I didn't say kill yourself out of despair, although I certainly sympathize, and sometimes empathize, with the feeling.
Trump 47 has now opened up the battle. We have to go through this fire. If one wants to link what's now happening to "higher powers", especially to a specific interpretation, that's one's choice, but if one rejects cooperation with others on the basis of that POV, we're certainly going to fail. TPTB like nothing better than the divide-and-conquer strategy.
Anti-Hip, it was not my intention to induce anger, I was merely responding with a question. The message I received from your post was that if the "buck stops here" that I should be doing something about it. I never quoted you as saying that we needed to go out and kill ourselves but used it as an example of asking how are we supposed to change it? Seriously. I was born into this slavery. So were my parents and grand parents. I know nothing else. So in regards to the "buck stops here" what does that mean? Does that mean we all take responsibility for our decadent and wasteful lifestyles? Buy smaller homes? Drive hybrid vehicles? Recycle more?
I don't have any disagreement with your comment, I'm just trying to understand what you mean. I feel kind of the same way about JHK's essay today. What are we to do about it? Everything about our lives is dependent upon fossil fuels and abundant energy. Sure, I can grow a big garden and eat food I grow but I am dependent upon the municipality to provide me with the water I need to grow the garden and the municipality is dependent upon diesel fuel to power the well pumps to draw the water out of the ground. The well is 1200 feet deep. Do I attempt to drill my own well? I am wholly dependent upon a system I had no say or assistance in designing. I don't know how to break free. I don't know how to stop the buck.
Thank you, I have no issue with your approach, even if I sounded abrupt above.
"I was born into this slavery. So were my parents and grand parents. I know nothing else."
But you are conscious of it. That is still, right now, further than a majority of US citizens of voting age.
"in regards to the 'buck stops here' what does that mean?"
Political evolution follows consciousness. Question is, do we let the consciousness be artificially imposed, as it has in the schools and MSM for several decades, culminating in the recent/current woke madness, or does it bubble up genuinely ("grass-roots"), from the circumstances of our lives?
IMO, we need mostly to continue encouraging grass-roots consciousness. This is well in progress, at least a decade, and maybe since GFC (as it was for me). Lifestyle changes, IMO, are completely optional, as they should depend on individual circumstances, not virtue signaling.
In practice, I think it first simply means our learning what goes on in the world. Not just through media -- which is by definition *always mediated* -- but getting to know people from as many walks of life as one can, and discussing that "what goes on" with them. Electronic life and communication in general, especially resulting from the COVID "public health" crap, has really gotten in the way. (And although a lot of people here bash the cities, that's actually one of the most practical settings for individuals to do this broad-swath outreach.)
Second is the continual brainstorming of how to confront existing authority in the most effective ways, and following through with that. We (the majority) had gotten awfully flabby at this (or rather, shepherded away from this) in seventy-eighty years.
If sufficient people are, perpetually, widely aware, that by itself restores political efficacy, and much good follows, without even any pre-planned recipes (political parties) for specific solutions (e.g. capitalism, socialism, etc.). Trump 47, in fact, bumpy as it is and certain to have missteps, has finally channeled this at the top, and the chaos that is resulting as I mentioned earlier is the fire we must go through.
You are too intense about what could be coming. Jesus told us to "not worry about tomorrow, today's problems are enough".
If the SHTF, like the WMBH, most people are going to die. That is a fact. Humanity will divide into two groups, regular folks who will go on living as best they can, and predators who will spend their time stealing from the former.
THere is nothing you can do to change that fact, there is nothing I can do, there is nothing Trump can do. When TLE happens, and it will, the world will never be the same.
There is a spiritual battle on earth, the good (God) vs. evil (satan). You pick a side. You can't be lukewarm. If you think you will win on the good side while partaking of all satan has to offer, that's not going to work - whether you are a believer or not - that's how it is.
Again, this is a *belief*. It is *your* belief (along with the belief, admittedly, of millions others). But it is not a *universal* belief, and it is certainly not manifestly obvious to all, the way it is manifestly obvious (to all sane people with, say, 80+ IQ) that the sun rises in the east.
Anti-Hip is correct that what you express as your beliefs are not universal, nor obvious to all. That does not make those people demons. It does make me want to avoid people who express such bigoted opinions like the proverbial plague.
Seems like you are not really grokking what I said. When someone ad-hominem attacks personally rather than arguing a point, that seems demonic to me. It's literally what demons do. They are in charge of all things negative. So when someone has a hair-trigger meltdown over a different opinion, I'd say that's a negative reaction, yes?
And what's this about my beliefs not being universal?
They most certainly are. No matter what religion or spiritual corner you reside in, heck, even if you are an atheist, there is the "Tao" or "Way" of the world. Sin is bad, good deeds are good.
"When someone ad-hominem attacks personally rather than arguing a point"
So, my getting meta about this is "attacking you personally"?
I said: "Again, this is a *belief*. It is *your* belief (along with the belief, admittedly, of millions others). But it is not a *universal* belief"
But I can accept the exact same thing about myself, as *everything* is belief. For any human being, there is no such thing as unimpeachably verifiable truth. (I think I'm in pretty decent company, with both Socrates and Protagoras in essential agreement, et al.) It is, in part, why claims about beings that are impossible to pro-actively sense look so silly. There are only assertions, and those made by others can always either be accepted or rejected by the receiver. That's why democracy, modern science, and adversarial justice are, and operate, the way they do.
So I am not "attacking" with "ad hominem". I am describing the fact that your confidence about your belief ("There is a spiritual battle on earth, the good (God) vs. evil (satan). ") -- exclusive of an argument that attempts its proof -- is just that. To an atheist or other skeptic, it demonstrates nothing. In fact, it, seems silly and outrageous, although I respect that to you it is very serious. So, I took a step back.
I realize I am, or can be seen, as doing the same (as time for most of us is limited), so I can accept that my claims look as ridiculous to you as yours do to me.
So I won't bother you any more. But I wanted to take a second look first at how you believe I am playing games and otherwise disrespecting you.
Problem is, Mary, that God does have a plan. It is the evil of Mankind that keeps getting in the way and periodically pissing God off enough to do something about it. Evil (Satan) is Man inspired. Most of the bad items in the two Testaments are caused by men, not God.
Might be, although I think I recognize his moniker, so maybe not. Derwood is a bit more caustic, as well. I think it's all the crisp Chardonnay hangovers. ЁЯШВ
Well, God WILL provide. He has - otherwise, I certainly wouldn't be here. Neither would many people I know, who live despite massive challenges. Thing is, God provides in direct correlation with what you put into it. If someone believes that God provides and they don't need to put in effort well, they are not going to fare well.
The problem is people, NOT God. I did not say that you said God is a problem. Evil stems from people. God is the definition of Good.
IMHO, Dennis has a problem. Where does the human concept of Good come from? Where does the idea of the Golden Rule originate? Humans, by their behavior, did not come up with the bipolar notions of Good and Evil. They are responsible for the evil part only. Without the God introduced concept of Good, we would just still be competing on the Veldt in Africa with all the other apes.
You chose to believe it. Therefore, it becomes "your interpretation". (You "own" your beliefs.) Notice that I am not struggling with that belief: Even though, I, too, believe "it is scripture", I know that I do not (and very likely cannot) know where it has come from, and primarily for that reason, choose not to believe it.
Nobody cares what you or I believe when it all boils down.
I stated it's not my interpretation because it's not. It is scripture's. I follow scripture, so my response reflects that. The only one who cares what you believe - truly - is God. Whether you acknowledge it or not. I'm aware of this, as well as millions of others - as you admit - you aren't.
And that's fine. I'm happy with my choice.
If you actually read scripture or even studied it, you would discover where it comes from.
Obviously. Therefore, *you* are the one making the *choice* to believe it.
Actually, on second thought, and on lower level, it's not even your choice. You're "programmed", by nature + nurture, to believe it, possibly as soon as you encountered it. What instead was likely your "choice" (back at the higher level) was to either indulge or ignore this belief.
"If you actually read scripture or even studied it, you would discover where it comes from."
Actually, I'm not "programmed." I was raised Catholic, rejected that, was an atheist for 20 years, as well as an agnostic for probably 15 or so. So, no, every belief I have has been carefully considered, researched, pondered over, read about, and internalized sufficiently before I would embrace it. That being said, I don't care what you believe - there are universal truths that all men live by, and that is fact. Some call it "The Golden Rule." You can say it doesn't exist all you want to, but you live by it every day. Society's mores are built on the 10 Commandments. Why? Because they are a great guide as to how to live. All religions and even states follow this same set of rules. Are you saying it's made-up magical woo woo? If so, that's pretty strange.
By "programmed", I should have used a more neutral word. I don't mean here that others forced you, but rather, that it was your mind, or how it developed, that did so. We are not, because we cannot be, the authors of our minds, although the illusion to the contrary is mighty strong. I readily admit that, in this sense, I am just as "programmed" as you, and can hardly do anything about it.
I, too, was raised Catholic (w/10 of 12 years in their schools, and the HS a good one nevertheless), and have never encountered any claim from the faith as to *divinity* -- as opposed to claims about *human nature*, i.e. your "universal truths" -- that, upon careful reflection, I haven't found utterly ridiculous. Accordingly, I find nothing nothing divine about the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. They are all-too-human, requiring no magical super-being(s) to vouch for their value and near-universality. That said, being human, *some* of these rules can be revised; there's plenty in the Bible that we today reject. Why? Because *humans* (including, ironically, the Catholic Church) have further *evolved*.
Recently, I've been pondering why a God (of the Abrahamic claims) would *ever* need *any* godmonger as a salesman, and certainly not an infinite supply of them constantly arguing with each other. Given God's claimed ultra-super nature, it seems preposterous to believe so; he can, at any point, reveal directly anything desired to anyone and *everyone*. Personally, his lifelong absence to me, then, certainly seals the deal. So, instead, I think the scripture and ongoing churches of the Abrahamic God is more accurately the Mother of all Psy-ops, going now three millenia strong taking advantage of that widely distributed, evolved feature of human psychology, religiosity.
God is obvious and visible all day every day. It's bizarre that you can't see it - but I suppose that's what differentiates those who believe from those who don't. In any case, thanks for sharing.
I like your ideas in general but I think "industrialism" and "mass production" is how we got here. All those little products coming down the assembly line. All the product items look perfect. All cheap. All coming down the production line. Millions of items, exactly the same. Finally making every PERSON the same. There is no going back to strip malls or Pop-Tarts or Cheerios or whatever. These are new time. We should just have generic corn flakes supplied by the government. Who the fu*k else???? Sure, you need a better government but it is our job to get that better government. Start by turning on the billionaires. They are the most useless element of society. Do not turn the whole thing over to them. Trump is different, but not better. After Trump tries to turn this country into a psychotic murder regime, sending innocent persons to El Salvador because the name sounded kind of Spanish....? Garcia. Get him the fu*k back here. Raise hell.
"Start by turning on the billionaires. They are the most useless element of society."
As I like to point out, there is no legitimate reason in a healthy society for any individual (or small family) to have a billion dollars, much less hundreds of billions. One cannot both personally and healthfully *consume* a billion dollars of goods and services. Billions of dollars are only needed for controlling industries, countries, and other populations; transferring wealth-power through generations (as monarchy does it with political power); and otherwise dick-waving to other billionaires.
I do get really tired of the anti-billionaire BS all the time. Are you envious? What is a billionaire after all? A person that came up with an idea for a new good or service that they are able to sell billions of dollars worth to us the people. What would the world be without Amazon? Or Tesla?
I am not including the financial parasites in that statement that make their billions feeding off of others.
LOL no. I oppose the extreme power that is put in their hands, unreasonably distorting politics in all sorts of venues. The idea that this power should be limitless, simply because widgets or software can, in modern times, be copied without limit at negligible cost, is absurd. Ostensibly, we don't allow it for political power, and neither should we for wealth (which performs the same way).
Amazon and Tesla easily could have, and IMO definitely would have, if we had long ago put a reasonable limit on this remuneration. I'm not talking a million or two, I'm still talking a fairly large sum such as $100 million that very few should find problematic.
Money does mean power. Where should the billionaires put their money? Give it to the clowns in DC, absolutely not. Give it to charity? Nope, so many are corrupt. Buy more stuff? Hmmm, that puts people to work.
I had the privilege of living in Newport RI while in the Navy. A small city built entirely for the billionaires of the Gilded Age. An entire community built up serving the wealthy old Belleview Avenue and their cottages. Remember most of the wealthy, first order, earned their wealth.
The center of slave trade in the North. Jews controlled much of it. No doubt the Yankees were in on it too of course. Charleston was the center in the South
Exactly. But do the revolution just as our first American revolution was done: with intelligence, historical reference, and universal wisdom. Build, not destroy.
I am watching from the sidelines the most "diverse & inclusive", "mostly peaceful", self-inflicted civilizational collapse in history. Why the sidelines? because when a locomotive is coming at you, your first priority is to get off the tracks.
I have reordered my life (relocated to where I am among like minded, decent people) to avoid (or reduce) the negative impacts of certain cultural trends, politics and demographics. Yes, I have given up some things, but in life there are no solutions... only tradeoffs. These days, being newly re-positioned, I would say that my philosophical approach to "staying sane" is> I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused.
Have faith. Live virtuously.
Amen.
Not being able to face the hard, lonely "buck stops here" responsibility (including facing the high possibility of the void) is exactly how we got into this mess. I know many people *personally* who have blissfully ignored, for decades, where we were going because "God will provide". In my experience, there are a hell of a lot more of them than there are truly responsible believers. Living virtuously is in no way sufficient to counter intelligent psychopathy (that is, the people that believers assign the magical quality "evil"); in fact, it never has.
An honest follow-up question, Anti-Hip. What are people supposed to do? Go into a field and eat the muzzle of a shot gun and end themselves for the good of "mother Earth?" Sell all they have and become beggars on the street? Return to a hunter-gatherer tribe? I don't understand the point you are trying to make. We were born into this "blissful ignorant" lifestyles. What are people supposed to do?
That's a good question. The illusion of activism (delusion, maybe) is that YOU can change things in the world. Not really. We can only change us. Not the external world. That's why all those activists throwing fits on the street aren't effective at all. And notice how crazy they all seem.
My problem, Mary Rose, is I don't know what to do. I really don't. Everything I know to do I have done. I live debt free. I have a small modest home. I grow a garden. I have food storage. I drive old cars. I pay cash for my vacations. I vote. I contact my Congresscritters (even though I know that does no good). I have run for public office and lost each time. At this point, the only thing I can do is just live my life and try to be best I can. Everything else is pretty much out of my control.
That's where God comes in. He offers us stability in spirit. He does not want us to worry - that is stated many times. You've done all you can to take care of yourself. God will see to the rest - just trust. That's all you have to do. And don't live in fear. That's what you-know-who wants.
Yes, that is where I am at at this point in my life. Most of the croakings of doom I have endured in my 50 years on this earth have not come to fruition. I'm still waiting for the nukes to fly over the Ukraine-Russia war. I read article after article about Putin nuking Europe and more. Hasn't happened. Fear porn is real and is very addictive.
Cankerpuss, you need some better reading material.
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/
Christianity-- specifically Catholicism-- built Western Civilization. A path towards Christianity might help for all of society.
I agree, you are correct, Christianity is the answer. It is difficult to lead a Christian life in much of the world. In the West, and especially in the US, due to decadence, and in other lands, like Islamic nations, Israel, and others, due to repression.
If the path to Godliness is the right path, Catholicism was and is, the wrong path. And it spawned even more incorrect paths, Protestantism, Communism, Fascism, secular humanism, and so forth.
Orthodox Christianity is the most correct path.
The West has been at war with Orthodox Christianity, hot and cold, since the Schism.
Cankerpuss! Sounds like you're fighting the good fight and leading a good life!
We need a lot more Americans like you. I like your posts in general, because I think they make sense, and I really liked this one.
The macro things that affect our lives are largely out of our control.
I'd respectfully suggest looking into Eastern Orthodoxy, if there are any Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox (aka Orthodox Church of America), Serbian, whatever, on-line (google Metropolitan Neophytos, or Neophytos of Morphou, Cyprus). Hopefully, you will find a good priest/parish, or better a monastery.
It is Holy Week--not too late to start. Find out where they have services for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Pascha, consider it. ("Easter" is from Astrid or some such thing--some pagan northern European "goddess" or ritual of spring. Even Catholics, from Romance language places call Christ's resurrection "Pasqua". There is your first clue as to where "Western Christianity" went wrong.... no offense meant to you or anyone else her. It's PASCHA, or PASQUA, or PASSOVER--the PASSOVER of the NEW COVENANT, NOT EASTER).
This April 14th Kunstler essay was an excellent summary of the situation.
Love or hate Trump (and I never loved HIM--I loved that he beat Bush and Clinton and showed the hypocrisy of the US elites, though he continued and continues their worst practices--war and debt), the situation has been unsustainable for decades, and it looks like it will blow up on Trump's watch, or he will be the one to go a step to far and blow it up... He is unable or unwilling to stop the war in Ukraine, and continues to support the wanton slaughter of the Palestinians. He has two sets of advisors. And he is a very old man for this job.
And the Presidency is too powerful, too imperial. The US Constitution is a nice document, but more and more ignored.
And worst of all, IMO, all the other contenders are younger and worst version of him.
Personally, I think the situation feels like April 1939 (from January 1939 at the start of the year--the official start of WW2 was yet to happen, that's Germany invades Poland and lame Britain/France declare war on Germany--but there was as hot war in the Far East, as major power Japan had invaded China), with touches of the late 70s (inflation), and Sept 1973 (just before the energy crisis).
Nothing ordinary people could do about these epic, man-made events.
Good luck to you, and everyone.
SC, thank you for your kind words. Your words reflect my feelings almost to a "T" (not sure what that means but it sounds good).
I have said before that I feel like I am living in a dream. A dream where I am stuck in the middle of a road and I can see a large semi truck barreling down upon me. I can't move. My feet are paralyzed. I can't get out of the way. I see that truck coming and I know that when it collides with me that it is going to hurt, maybe even kill me. But, it just doesn't arrive. It's always right there but it just never gets close enough to hit me. Knowing that eventually it will hit me is the worst part.
That's the way that I feel about the world in general. Things are broken and are way off kilter. I know it. I can see it. But, like that truck in my dream, the big one just hasn't hit yet. When it does it is going to hurt and might even kill me.
The US Constitution is nothing but fancy, old butt fodder now. The President was never intended to have as much power as he does today. The Congress was supposed to have that power but the Congress pissed away their authority decades ago as now is nothing more than a squabbling club if self-important idiots. The Judiciary was supposed to be relegated to the basement of the US Capitol. It was the least of the "separate powers" defined by the Constitution and now we have judges stifling the Executive powers with the swipe of a pen. The Senate was supposed to represent the States, not the people. Ironically, all the damage was done 60 years before I was even conceived.
Worst? I see nobody in Congress with the will, desire, or know-how to fix this mess. Trump is trying, I'll give him that, but he cannot do anything without a willing Congress. Worse than that is most Americans don't give a fuck. As long as they can buy a Whopper at Burger Thing, as long as they can buy their drugs, porn, and stuff potato chips into their mouths while they watch "The Bachelor" or the NBA, all is fine and dandy to them.
That big truck is getting ever closer.
Thank you for running for office. Being virtuous AND showing up does make a difference, but it takes time. It is the example that you have set that others may be seeing without you even realizing it.
I know the County Commissioners know who I am and that I am one to take notes and feel free to share information. Some people tell me they appreciate me going to those dreadful meetings.
" I have run for public office and lost each time"
CP,
Each time? I learned the lessons on the first.
Three times, Elysianfield. School Board. City Council. Mayor. Lost to women in each race. I was just too damned ugly and wanted to cut too much government perks. Not popular to the majority.
You faced the gimme syndrome that is stifling the whole country. Trump will not change the country, the people have to. Or it is finished and the beacon of light will be extinguished.
Yep. I wanted to eliminate the City run golf course (I love golf), the City run swimming pool, the City run library and cut the parks department. Government, IMO, should only be providing public safety, public utilities, roads and building safety. Everything else should be private. Yep, if I had won there would have been no more City sponsored concerts in the park, July 4th parades, or Santa Comes to Town celebrations. But, I would have slashed the budget and lowered taxes. As you probably can deduce, that is not popular to the general public.
The Roman Emperors gave the mob Games in the Colosseum so keep them тАЬquietтАЭ. Today is just a repeat of the same, some things just do not change. Your platform was right on, be proud of it. The тАЬgimmesтАЭ will go down.
I see indications that Trump will change the format for life, and then your "gimme" crowd will game the new system, and he will achieve his desired results.
Countries throughout the world have bastardized their currencies in unison, and the jig is up.
What happens if the majority of countries agree to a 10% tariff that provides funding for their government, and this opens up new business activity (which increases government funding)? The consumer has to pay a higher price for goods, but there is tax relief for the lower and middle income citizens. Then they couple this with mega-projects that will be beneficial to the citizens and the world.
The tariffs are identifying the obstructionists. Trump will make deals with some of their partners (think in terms of Japan and India), and this will have the effect of busting up the 2030 Agenda holdouts, and possibly weaken the BRICS alliance, to where China agrees to cooperate, or at least is unable to obstruct the Trump agenda.
I know that tariffs are protectionist but also revenue raising. If the 10% tariff worldwide was just in addition to everything else, ie in the USA all other taxes remain, it is a money grab by government trying to cover their debt asses and everyone is 10% poorer. Why think that any of it is going to be used by government to fund anything, they are already broke.
Trump wants his tax cut continuation to be funded by tariff revenue, isnтАЩt gonna happen, the deficit just grows every year. Yes, IMHO, Trump will use his power of the purse to get advantage over other countries, that is good.
Your China view is a big thing, we will find out in short order whether China feels a need to string along with the USA demands. I would bet no, but they are in tough shape too debt wise by trying to fake out the world.
Whatever gets "tariffed", all other things being equal, people will buy less of.
So, if Americans bought $1 billion in i-phones in 2024, and you put a 20% tariff, that doesn't mean tariff revenue will be $200 million.
Some people won't pay more, so perhaps sales will drop to $900 million, and revenue will be $180 million.
If the US had a competitive, home-made smart-phone, chance are those sales would rise. Chances are also that, the makers of US i-phones would raise their prices some--especially if they were "capacity-constrained" and couldn't increase their production to meet higher demand.
One big change in the auto industry since the 1960s (and I presume other big-ticket manufactured goods), is that production is more efficient.
Besides using more automation (which requires capital expenditures up-front, and thus feeds the process below), manufacturers have removed "slack" or "extra" capacity.
Here is an excellent example that older people here can relate to: the Ford Mustang!
It came out in April 1964. From then, until the end of 1966, the ORIGINAL Mustang sold about a million cars. Home run!
Ford originally estimated 200,000 per year. The Mustang sold DOUBLE (400k per year, 1M units over 2.5 years)
Ford was able to meet demand, because car plants in those days were "looser" and had excess capacity, and could be cranked up to run faster, in addition to overtime.
Those days are long gone. PRE-PANDEMIC, ALL the automakers set up their process for max efficiency for X units. If the vehicle is more popular than expected, they can run some overtime, which they do, and they sell more highly optioned cars, or just raise the price.
They cannot just "turn the knob" and make more. Those days were gone by the late 1970s, early 1980s.
That's what "Japanese" "just in time" manufacturing is all about. No waste.
You make only what you need, when you need it. No more. No stockpiles of parts (in case the UAW goes on strike, so plant can run an extra week or month). No extra length in assembly lines to add more people. In fact, in older plants, for a while, we CUT OUT un-used conveyor work stations.
There will be winners and loser, IMO, from the tariffs. But overall, it is a losing deal. Selected tariffs on selected products/industries, would have been more useful, IMO. Who knows? We may find out.
If your "gimme" crowd is reduced from 50% to 10%, how do you see that working out?
" If the 10% tariff worldwide was just in addition to everything else, ie in the USA all other taxes remain, it is a money grab by government trying to cover their debt asses and everyone is 10% poorer."
The poor do not consume the way the rich do, so it shifts the tax burden.
" Why think that any of it is going to be used by government to fund anything, they are already broke."
My 2 cents is that this will likely be resolved by devaluation, or default. Again, devaluation impacts the upper income more than the poor. So, where is a good place for the likes of Miriam Adelson to shield her wealth from devaluation? How about a Business in America (which ends up being a productive utilization of wealth, and generates tax revenue for the government)?
No, it's popular. The game is rigged. I have numbers. Lots of people have numbers. It is going to be coming out.
When Mitch McConnell showed up on my television screen, Dec. 2020, telling me to send money to Georgia for the two U.S. Senate races runoff, I emailed the GOP of KY (who had just censured him for some reason) telling them to send M. McConnell and L. Graham out to my state. I could show those two "money solicitors" some interesting numbers. They might be led to believe, if they took "a look see," that it was possible "to bag" one of their (R) U.S. Senators out here.
And I won't even bore you with how messed up the bond issue numbers are.
County Sheriff for me. "Welcome to Politics"....
Yes sounds about right. Anybody who knows how to fix problems can't get elected because the public these days won't stand for even short term pain in exchange for long term gain. Your well thought out and planned for situation sounds like you'll be okay. You must be commended for having the foresight to get to where you are. It's those in debt who will suffer terribly in the next downturn.
Don't vote. It only encourages them.
What everybody missesтАФincluding Howard:
We have ourselves a spiritual crisis, not a political one.
They're not trying to communicate with us. They're trying to smother us out of existence. We should not make the same mistakes.
I said "face the hard, lonely 'buck stops here' responsibility". That's it. I didn't say kill yourself out of despair, although I certainly sympathize, and sometimes empathize, with the feeling.
Trump 47 has now opened up the battle. We have to go through this fire. If one wants to link what's now happening to "higher powers", especially to a specific interpretation, that's one's choice, but if one rejects cooperation with others on the basis of that POV, we're certainly going to fail. TPTB like nothing better than the divide-and-conquer strategy.
Anti-Hip, it was not my intention to induce anger, I was merely responding with a question. The message I received from your post was that if the "buck stops here" that I should be doing something about it. I never quoted you as saying that we needed to go out and kill ourselves but used it as an example of asking how are we supposed to change it? Seriously. I was born into this slavery. So were my parents and grand parents. I know nothing else. So in regards to the "buck stops here" what does that mean? Does that mean we all take responsibility for our decadent and wasteful lifestyles? Buy smaller homes? Drive hybrid vehicles? Recycle more?
I don't have any disagreement with your comment, I'm just trying to understand what you mean. I feel kind of the same way about JHK's essay today. What are we to do about it? Everything about our lives is dependent upon fossil fuels and abundant energy. Sure, I can grow a big garden and eat food I grow but I am dependent upon the municipality to provide me with the water I need to grow the garden and the municipality is dependent upon diesel fuel to power the well pumps to draw the water out of the ground. The well is 1200 feet deep. Do I attempt to drill my own well? I am wholly dependent upon a system I had no say or assistance in designing. I don't know how to break free. I don't know how to stop the buck.
Just trying to understand, not be argumentative.
Thank you, I have no issue with your approach, even if I sounded abrupt above.
"I was born into this slavery. So were my parents and grand parents. I know nothing else."
But you are conscious of it. That is still, right now, further than a majority of US citizens of voting age.
"in regards to the 'buck stops here' what does that mean?"
Political evolution follows consciousness. Question is, do we let the consciousness be artificially imposed, as it has in the schools and MSM for several decades, culminating in the recent/current woke madness, or does it bubble up genuinely ("grass-roots"), from the circumstances of our lives?
IMO, we need mostly to continue encouraging grass-roots consciousness. This is well in progress, at least a decade, and maybe since GFC (as it was for me). Lifestyle changes, IMO, are completely optional, as they should depend on individual circumstances, not virtue signaling.
In practice, I think it first simply means our learning what goes on in the world. Not just through media -- which is by definition *always mediated* -- but getting to know people from as many walks of life as one can, and discussing that "what goes on" with them. Electronic life and communication in general, especially resulting from the COVID "public health" crap, has really gotten in the way. (And although a lot of people here bash the cities, that's actually one of the most practical settings for individuals to do this broad-swath outreach.)
Second is the continual brainstorming of how to confront existing authority in the most effective ways, and following through with that. We (the majority) had gotten awfully flabby at this (or rather, shepherded away from this) in seventy-eighty years.
If sufficient people are, perpetually, widely aware, that by itself restores political efficacy, and much good follows, without even any pre-planned recipes (political parties) for specific solutions (e.g. capitalism, socialism, etc.). Trump 47, in fact, bumpy as it is and certain to have missteps, has finally channeled this at the top, and the chaos that is resulting as I mentioned earlier is the fire we must go through.
Well said Anti-hip and Cankerpuss. Enjoyed the dialogue.
Now that I understand. Thank you for the well thought out response.
You are not another Dennis Merwood. ЁЯШК
Cankerpuss
You are too intense about what could be coming. Jesus told us to "not worry about tomorrow, today's problems are enough".
If the SHTF, like the WMBH, most people are going to die. That is a fact. Humanity will divide into two groups, regular folks who will go on living as best they can, and predators who will spend their time stealing from the former.
THere is nothing you can do to change that fact, there is nothing I can do, there is nothing Trump can do. When TLE happens, and it will, the world will never be the same.
There is a spiritual battle on earth, the good (God) vs. evil (satan). You pick a side. You can't be lukewarm. If you think you will win on the good side while partaking of all satan has to offer, that's not going to work - whether you are a believer or not - that's how it is.
Again, this is a *belief*. It is *your* belief (along with the belief, admittedly, of millions others). But it is not a *universal* belief, and it is certainly not manifestly obvious to all, the way it is manifestly obvious (to all sane people with, say, 80+ IQ) that the sun rises in the east.
Here come the demons.
Have a nice day. ЁЯШК
Anti-Hip is correct that what you express as your beliefs are not universal, nor obvious to all. That does not make those people demons. It does make me want to avoid people who express such bigoted opinions like the proverbial plague.
Seems like you are not really grokking what I said. When someone ad-hominem attacks personally rather than arguing a point, that seems demonic to me. It's literally what demons do. They are in charge of all things negative. So when someone has a hair-trigger meltdown over a different opinion, I'd say that's a negative reaction, yes?
And what's this about my beliefs not being universal?
They most certainly are. No matter what religion or spiritual corner you reside in, heck, even if you are an atheist, there is the "Tao" or "Way" of the world. Sin is bad, good deeds are good.
Please do tell me how that is not so.
"When someone ad-hominem attacks personally rather than arguing a point"
So, my getting meta about this is "attacking you personally"?
I said: "Again, this is a *belief*. It is *your* belief (along with the belief, admittedly, of millions others). But it is not a *universal* belief"
But I can accept the exact same thing about myself, as *everything* is belief. For any human being, there is no such thing as unimpeachably verifiable truth. (I think I'm in pretty decent company, with both Socrates and Protagoras in essential agreement, et al.) It is, in part, why claims about beings that are impossible to pro-actively sense look so silly. There are only assertions, and those made by others can always either be accepted or rejected by the receiver. That's why democracy, modern science, and adversarial justice are, and operate, the way they do.
So I am not "attacking" with "ad hominem". I am describing the fact that your confidence about your belief ("There is a spiritual battle on earth, the good (God) vs. evil (satan). ") -- exclusive of an argument that attempts its proof -- is just that. To an atheist or other skeptic, it demonstrates nothing. In fact, it, seems silly and outrageous, although I respect that to you it is very serious. So, I took a step back.
I realize I am, or can be seen, as doing the same (as time for most of us is limited), so I can accept that my claims look as ridiculous to you as yours do to me.
So I won't bother you any more. But I wanted to take a second look first at how you believe I am playing games and otherwise disrespecting you.
Peace.
Okay. IтАЩll pick a side. I pick the side of good.
So, what next then? What might Satan be offering that IтАЩm not aware of? And who decides which things are good or bad?
Read scripture. It is laid out perfectly in a way most can understand. Or, start reading C.S. Lewis. He really covered all this very well.
Problem is, Mary, that God does have a plan. It is the evil of Mankind that keeps getting in the way and periodically pissing God off enough to do something about it. Evil (Satan) is Man inspired. Most of the bad items in the two Testaments are caused by men, not God.
Of course! We are free to mess things up as we will. God has already won the war over satan, it's up to us to choose which side we're on.
~ No, Really ~
"And who decides which things are good or bad?" ~ The Keys
Godzilla. And after he does, he dances the Godzillambada.
____
"And who decides which things are good or bad?" ~ The Keys
Vaal. And after he does, he dances the Vaalambada.
youtu.be/UNXiuqG_lBQ?si=FYTH6kuelZ9wLCIV
____
God Song
youtu.be/qHuguZgRkWE?feature=shared&t=125
Another Dennis Merwood?
Yeah, whatever happened to Dennis, anyway? Haven't seen any of his usually positive comments for awhile.
He's still out there. Pops up every now and then.
Might be, although I think I recognize his moniker, so maybe not. Derwood is a bit more caustic, as well. I think it's all the crisp Chardonnay hangovers. ЁЯШВ
Is Dennis formerly known as tekapoo and 20 other handles?
I had not made that connection, but it makes sense.
Here's a nice picture of Tekapo. It's actually a lake in NZ.
https://www.superiorwallpapers.com/download/amazing-tekapo-lake-from-new-zealand-1920x1080.jpg
Dennis = Tekapoo. But I'm not sure if he's also this chap.
A question is, though, what inspires him to take exception to every mention of God or religion?
Well, people think I'm weird when I say that they act like demons but what do demons do when you mention God?
Is drinking off the table, then?
Of course not! But it's cause-and-effect. You drink too much crisp Chardonnay, you are going to pay.
Well, God WILL provide. He has - otherwise, I certainly wouldn't be here. Neither would many people I know, who live despite massive challenges. Thing is, God provides in direct correlation with what you put into it. If someone believes that God provides and they don't need to put in effort well, they are not going to fare well.
Again, the problem is people, not God.
Of course - where did you think I said God is a problem?
Huh?
Pls read again, Mary.
The problem is people, NOT God. I did not say that you said God is a problem. Evil stems from people. God is the definition of Good.
IMHO, Dennis has a problem. Where does the human concept of Good come from? Where does the idea of the Golden Rule originate? Humans, by their behavior, did not come up with the bipolar notions of Good and Evil. They are responsible for the evil part only. Without the God introduced concept of Good, we would just still be competing on the Veldt in Africa with all the other apes.
Agree. Maybe I had a case of dyslexia last night. LOL.
Also agree on Derwood. He is just a brainwashed commie, so of course his opinions concur with all the rest of them.
That's your interpretation of how the world works. I see it much differently.
It's not my interpretation, it's scripture's.
You chose to believe it. Therefore, it becomes "your interpretation". (You "own" your beliefs.) Notice that I am not struggling with that belief: Even though, I, too, believe "it is scripture", I know that I do not (and very likely cannot) know where it has come from, and primarily for that reason, choose not to believe it.
Nobody cares what you or I believe when it all boils down.
I stated it's not my interpretation because it's not. It is scripture's. I follow scripture, so my response reflects that. The only one who cares what you believe - truly - is God. Whether you acknowledge it or not. I'm aware of this, as well as millions of others - as you admit - you aren't.
And that's fine. I'm happy with my choice.
If you actually read scripture or even studied it, you would discover where it comes from.
"I follow scripture"
Obviously. Therefore, *you* are the one making the *choice* to believe it.
Actually, on second thought, and on lower level, it's not even your choice. You're "programmed", by nature + nurture, to believe it, possibly as soon as you encountered it. What instead was likely your "choice" (back at the higher level) was to either indulge or ignore this belief.
"If you actually read scripture or even studied it, you would discover where it comes from."
Boy, I wish *that* were true!
Actually, I'm not "programmed." I was raised Catholic, rejected that, was an atheist for 20 years, as well as an agnostic for probably 15 or so. So, no, every belief I have has been carefully considered, researched, pondered over, read about, and internalized sufficiently before I would embrace it. That being said, I don't care what you believe - there are universal truths that all men live by, and that is fact. Some call it "The Golden Rule." You can say it doesn't exist all you want to, but you live by it every day. Society's mores are built on the 10 Commandments. Why? Because they are a great guide as to how to live. All religions and even states follow this same set of rules. Are you saying it's made-up magical woo woo? If so, that's pretty strange.
By "programmed", I should have used a more neutral word. I don't mean here that others forced you, but rather, that it was your mind, or how it developed, that did so. We are not, because we cannot be, the authors of our minds, although the illusion to the contrary is mighty strong. I readily admit that, in this sense, I am just as "programmed" as you, and can hardly do anything about it.
I, too, was raised Catholic (w/10 of 12 years in their schools, and the HS a good one nevertheless), and have never encountered any claim from the faith as to *divinity* -- as opposed to claims about *human nature*, i.e. your "universal truths" -- that, upon careful reflection, I haven't found utterly ridiculous. Accordingly, I find nothing nothing divine about the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. They are all-too-human, requiring no magical super-being(s) to vouch for their value and near-universality. That said, being human, *some* of these rules can be revised; there's plenty in the Bible that we today reject. Why? Because *humans* (including, ironically, the Catholic Church) have further *evolved*.
Recently, I've been pondering why a God (of the Abrahamic claims) would *ever* need *any* godmonger as a salesman, and certainly not an infinite supply of them constantly arguing with each other. Given God's claimed ultra-super nature, it seems preposterous to believe so; he can, at any point, reveal directly anything desired to anyone and *everyone*. Personally, his lifelong absence to me, then, certainly seals the deal. So, instead, I think the scripture and ongoing churches of the Abrahamic God is more accurately the Mother of all Psy-ops, going now three millenia strong taking advantage of that widely distributed, evolved feature of human psychology, religiosity.
God is obvious and visible all day every day. It's bizarre that you can't see it - but I suppose that's what differentiates those who believe from those who don't. In any case, thanks for sharing.
talk the talk then walk the talk
I like your ideas in general but I think "industrialism" and "mass production" is how we got here. All those little products coming down the assembly line. All the product items look perfect. All cheap. All coming down the production line. Millions of items, exactly the same. Finally making every PERSON the same. There is no going back to strip malls or Pop-Tarts or Cheerios or whatever. These are new time. We should just have generic corn flakes supplied by the government. Who the fu*k else???? Sure, you need a better government but it is our job to get that better government. Start by turning on the billionaires. They are the most useless element of society. Do not turn the whole thing over to them. Trump is different, but not better. After Trump tries to turn this country into a psychotic murder regime, sending innocent persons to El Salvador because the name sounded kind of Spanish....? Garcia. Get him the fu*k back here. Raise hell.
"Start by turning on the billionaires. They are the most useless element of society."
As I like to point out, there is no legitimate reason in a healthy society for any individual (or small family) to have a billion dollars, much less hundreds of billions. One cannot both personally and healthfully *consume* a billion dollars of goods and services. Billions of dollars are only needed for controlling industries, countries, and other populations; transferring wealth-power through generations (as monarchy does it with political power); and otherwise dick-waving to other billionaires.
I do get really tired of the anti-billionaire BS all the time. Are you envious? What is a billionaire after all? A person that came up with an idea for a new good or service that they are able to sell billions of dollars worth to us the people. What would the world be without Amazon? Or Tesla?
I am not including the financial parasites in that statement that make their billions feeding off of others.
"Are you envious?"
LOL no. I oppose the extreme power that is put in their hands, unreasonably distorting politics in all sorts of venues. The idea that this power should be limitless, simply because widgets or software can, in modern times, be copied without limit at negligible cost, is absurd. Ostensibly, we don't allow it for political power, and neither should we for wealth (which performs the same way).
Amazon and Tesla easily could have, and IMO definitely would have, if we had long ago put a reasonable limit on this remuneration. I'm not talking a million or two, I'm still talking a fairly large sum such as $100 million that very few should find problematic.
Money does mean power. Where should the billionaires put their money? Give it to the clowns in DC, absolutely not. Give it to charity? Nope, so many are corrupt. Buy more stuff? Hmmm, that puts people to work.
I had the privilege of living in Newport RI while in the Navy. A small city built entirely for the billionaires of the Gilded Age. An entire community built up serving the wealthy old Belleview Avenue and their cottages. Remember most of the wealthy, first order, earned their wealth.
The center of slave trade in the North. Jews controlled much of it. No doubt the Yankees were in on it too of course. Charleston was the center in the South
That is right, there was a slave trade in the North right up to the Civil War. Many Freemen owned slaves in both the South and North.
The trade triangle brought slaves first to the Caribbean, then up to the States.
BTW, all of the servants housing in Newport is now worth over a million each.
Exactly. But do the revolution just as our first American revolution was done: with intelligence, historical reference, and universal wisdom. Build, not destroy.
If they bring some criminal filth back at your suggestion, I suggest they send him to your house.
The second sentence of this post was тАЬThe world has to get by with less.тАЭ
Exactly. There will be less to get by on.
with all this science and technology, 'less' is still quite comfortable. So it is not terrible fate.
.
What can one do in light of this?
----------
I am watching from the sidelines the most "diverse & inclusive", "mostly peaceful", self-inflicted civilizational collapse in history. Why the sidelines? because when a locomotive is coming at you, your first priority is to get off the tracks.
I have reordered my life (relocated to where I am among like minded, decent people) to avoid (or reduce) the negative impacts of certain cultural trends, politics and demographics. Yes, I have given up some things, but in life there are no solutions... only tradeoffs. These days, being newly re-positioned, I would say that my philosophical approach to "staying sane" is> I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused.