Last year I took my parents and my girlfriend to see Rodger Waters. We had all grown up on Pink Floyd, and could probably sing along with most of their catalog. So many people of all different sorts and from so many backgrounds, brought together to celebrate music. He could have led us through a series of sing-alongs and it would have been a love fest. But no, he went straight into radicalized politics, complete with 4 giant screens for the video content. A few of his points really did make sense, but the majority of the show was more propaganda than art. At one point he stopped to tell us that anyone who thought the show was too political could 'fuck off'. As we left the show, the crowds were abnormally quite. It was such a waste. What could have brought people together instead drove them apart. What could have been one of those concerts you remember for a lifetime came out as something I would rather forget. What a shame.
Such a waste indeed. I wonder what could have been--if "a few of his points really did make sense," how could Waters have ended up, instead, a human being who was able to listen to people around him, who kept people around him who pushed back?
Thank you for this hopeful perspective. Understanding how numbers and functions work to model the world is what fascinates me, so I’ll continue to use that to motivate my lessons as a public university faculty member. I appreciated when my professors provided a neutral and focused learning space for us in the days after 9/11. I found refuge in my studies when the world seemed to be falling apart around me. No politics, no opinions, just pure mathematics to fascinate us and for us to revel in. I intend to do the same for my students. That’s what they want from me and that’s what I’m good at anyway. Keeping afloat and doing my job. Thank you again for the recentering.
"Holding steady in a storm like this is a kind of winning."
Like birds, many small airplanes can hover in place against a strong enough headwind. Lift is produced by the passage of wind over an airfoil. It matters not if the wind is produced by the thrust of the engine or the wild energy of a weather system. Either one will keep you airborne, if you know how to ride the currents.
I love to watch the pelicans use air currents inside of waves to “surf”. They have finger-like feathers at the tips of their long wings that just barely graze above the face of the wave. That’s magic to me.
thanks, Heather. I appreciate the clear thinking and beautiful metaphor. "keeping one's head when all around are loosing theirs", comes to mind.
I find myself vacillating wildly between hopefulness and nihilism (depending on who's podcast I listened to that day). yet with every differing view, I learn some new tidbit, some valid perspective I never thought about before.
weathering the storm as a kind of winning... I'll take some comfort in that today. don't know about tomorrow, but at least I feel a little better about taking it one day at a time and hoping cooler heads will prevail.
'But hatred finds common ground, and from there, it grows.'
This is so true. In a sense hatred is the inescable cultural ethic that woke projects - it amplifies othering like a disabling feedback loop. It robs families, communities and institutions of love - the willingness to sacrifice for each other or operate in good faith. It hobbles any chance we have to speak to each other much less understand each other. And most perniciously it entrenches disgust for each other, without any hope of redemption, as the starting place for relationships. What could be more hateful than this?
Bret dismissed the idea that mean IQ in the west could be dropping for "a single reason" like the disappearance of harsh selection. I could not expand upon those comments due to space. The OTHER reason that IQ is declining in the west is that the most intelligent among us are foregoing parenthood entirely, or limiting themselves to a single "designer child". All the while paying intellectually substandard people to have more babies for a bigger payout from the state.
You and Bret have two, which is out of the norm. Very welcome, but hardly enough to reverse the trend. And don't you admit that steadily declining IQ in the west explains a lot of what we are seeing?
IQ could be a useful metric if it could be accurately defined and accurately measured, neither of which is possible. There is no doubt significance to whatever is being measured, but its murky nature allows creative interpretation.
There is no map where we are going. There are ramps which we can possibly exit off, but we are seeing a dark cloud above not due to the change in the weather but the burning down of cities. We ALL want to be safe, secure, well loved, and be productive. Many of us are also trying to maintain a balance, we are retired, but things are different from what we had planned. We aren’t getting accurate, truthful, non-biased information we can’t make good decisions with shit information. In the back of my mind I fear there is a group of people instigating, pushing, making things very bad for us to see how we react/respond. I do not know or understand their motives, I just know they are not people I would hang out with, share a beer and a hot dog with.
Burning down our cities ... people don't see the genetic selection responsible for those pesky colonists. Colonialism is the result of one group of people having superior tools, organization abilities, or some other undefined powers over another people. Why do those pesky white Northern European peoples seem to have greater powers? Well, for starters, the far north is a harsh brutal place, unforgiving to individuals who are lacking in a collection of basic traits which we collectively call personal responsibility.
Through our largesse, we have invited less responsible peoples to our northern country, and these people are demonstrating the depths of their irresponsibility.
Jimmy Buffet had a song titled "Changes in latitude, Changes in attitude." Last week the podcast covered this concept exactly, only in relation to species diversity and climate survivability. Well it goes for primate critters too, even genus homo.
IQ is the most reliable measurement of "G" general intelligence. It has been proven over and over thar concepts like "emotional intelligence" are chimera. Real intelligence manifests itself in all areas. Almost all the people shouting that "IQ is an incomplete measurement of REAL intelligence" are people of only slightly above mean IQ and think that they are smarter than their numbers indicate. Dunning-Kruger as it manifests among self-described "intellectuals".
This is the truth. Some wish it were not so, but it is truth. If I only had six extra IQ points, I could do--and have done--so much better. I'm smart enough to know how much smarter I could be.
We every one of us do what we can. You only get dealt one hand in life and you have to make the best of what you have to work with. I wish I was smarter (and prettier, faster, more coordinated and had better eyesight) I could certainly have pursued other goals. At almost two standard deviations above the present mean, I would have been solidly at the mean in 1800. Fortunately, I don't have to outthink James Watt. What I have served me adequately in my own time and I have to be satisfied with that.
How can that be? The Flynn effect only starting reversing in some western nations within the last 10 years. I've heard this before, but have doubts about that.
Read "At Our Wit's End" or any of the other books by Dr Edward Dutton. You may be surprised how long this has been going on. I, for one am surprised at the resistance to these ideas and disdain for the logical processes that lead to them are in the west. "The Marching Morons" by CM Cornbluth identified these trends in the 1950's.
Eugenics doesn't work. Never has. Even if a mechanism is in place to promote the breeding of the most fit at the expense of the less fit, humans are poor judges of what makes a "fitter" human. Look at every wild animal that humans have shaped by selective breeding. None seems to be as healthy and intelligent as the animals they were bred from. Even the smartest herding breeds of dogs have smaller brains and less intelligence than the wolves they were bred from. The only "answer" has been and still is civilizational collapse back into harsh selection. Which is why so many otherwise intelligent people are denying what is right before their eyes.
OK, I'll bite since I bear first responsibility for responding to this flawed thesis:
Us toolmakers, assuming we retain some technological knowhow post-apocalypse, will have a head start on inevitably recreating the means of our own destruction. Unless we can find better metrics for generating (and evaluating) 'progress'.
There is an old saying, the truth of which has been demonstrated repeatedly, "Hard men make good times. Good times make weak men. Weak men make for hard times" A bit of an over simplification of a common observation, but not invalid.
If we are to avoid bombing (or the equivalent) ourselves 'back to the stone age' as they say, I believe Bret and Heather have been proposing it would be best that we do invalidate that old saying, and--until now?--they have been seeking an improved cultural paradigm to that end. That would be the truly liberal answer to your inevitable doomsday scenario. It is a long shot, but we need to attempt it and it begins with presently almost non-existent academic/political/corporate leadership to that end. Again, a very long shot.
If interpersonal conflict could be eliminated, a lot of human history could be forgotten. Unfortunately, nature proceeds by competition between individuals. Human groups also compete for resources. They always have. Our current WEIRD glut of luxuries can't be sustained. That 33+ trillion dollars of US debt will have to be paid by SOMEONE (even if that is a gross underestimate). The WHO proposal of changes to their own charter should be sufficient to convince anyone that a One World Government will only benefit its own elites.
I find I am handling this situation in a much calmer and more productive manner than I did Covid. I find that Covid was a sort of practice round for the next crisis. However, that being said, I find I am still as equally devastated as I was in 2020/2021 by the difference between the potential of our world and its reality.
Recently I took a trip to St. Louis where I enjoyed the sights of classic art and beautiful historic architecture, the tastes of delicious Italian food and well-crafted beer, and enjoyed the humor and love of close friends. It was a perfect reminder of that potential I see in the world and life, and it acted as a reminder of the importance of striving upward and looking past the only option being presented to us now: darkness.
The memory of this weekend, I believe, will be an important benchmark within my memory to which I can return to in times such as these, which I fear will be a constant presence throughout the foreseeable future.
The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case is a classic example of a manufactured narrative. The Conservative Treehouse did deep dive reporting into the case including FOIA requests that showed most of what we were told was a lie. Zimmerman clearly was being stupid, but the evidence that Martin had a long history of being a thug and doing robberies was well documented. Also, Zimmerman was hyspanic and portrayed as only white. A very old picture of Martin was used in the press which made him look young and sweet, he was neither. This case reminded me of when I fell for the Tawana Brawley manipulation at a younger age so now I have to dig more before I believe anything in the press.
Very good friends of mine were BLM supporters and I can understand how people would fall for them. Had I been younger I likely would have.
I have much admiration for the lyricist who put "houseproud town mouse" in a song. But his fascination with the uniforms and symbols of national socialism--his own public cosplay--in his stage theatrics after all these years betray his beliefs as recently espoused and as displayed in more private settings. He is his own kind of pig--a fourth different one.
If we look at world (macro level) through the lens of our experience (micro level) we see obvious but painful solutions. When my abusive husband (does it matter that he was a doctor? a jew? a man?...shall I now revenge on all doctors, jews, and men?) was beyond living with for safety and sanity for myself and my sons, I was forced to leave MY dream home (a home only possible by the support of my parents) and FLEE. When my now husband was married to a woman who cheated on him and forced him out of a family home that was passed on to HIM and took his children through alienation syndrome, should he have fought her or just left so that his children wouldn't be traumatized and maybe she would realize that this insult that didn't get the results she hoped for would mean she would tire of her game and eventually leave? She did. When a family are victims of atrocities like a child being kidnapped and chopped into pieces with DNA confirming the murder, but they are still forced to sit in a court room day in and day out, rather than exact revenge that understandably burns in their hearts, we see that on a micro level we are forced into civilization. If we each personally acted on all the injustices we face in life by killing those who have wronged us and bombing the neighborhood they live in, where would we be now? Israel for all its RIGHT to home must face the fact that the deep and twisted road of the wrongs of the past..theirs and their enemies will NEVER be untangled. They are a relatively small population surrounded by insanely large population that doesn't share their world view. Should the entire planet now be dragged into a world war when the clear answer is to move out of enemy territory and relocate? HOME is where safety and sanity are had. Logic tells you that when if/when a person or a group insist on holding on to a location to the point of death, not just for their families but putting millions at risk, they are nothing but religious zealots, sentimental fools or barbaric idiots. There are places in the world, large islands and beautiful lush lands that the Israel state can relocate to. If there is a question of how long it will take to move 9 million people think of the money available by reallocating war funding and calling on peace-loving nations to contribute to end the madness. You only need to look at the so-called unsupported raid on our border to see how many people can be relocated WITHOUT legitimate resources. In under a decade the new state will flourish when energy is spent building not fighting. Again, what side caused the problem it is no longer the issue. If you are taking a side after centuries of tit for tat and don't see this now as a scrambled, dangerously divisive nightmare you are not a critical thinker. The only WHO that matters are the ones that design a way to a SANE solution. Any talk or action that divides... mostly clueless populations who couldn't pass a 10 question quiz on the issues, yet now scream 'KILL THEM ALL' , will bring the world to its knees if they are allowed to call the shots. You are not allowed seek revenge of death for wrongs done to you personally (you go to jail!) nations should not be allowed to do so either.
Move out of enemy territory and relocate? Seems like they have moved out so many times before. Moved out of Mesopotamia to the land then called Israel, then to Egypt, then back to the land then called Israel, then to Babylon, then back to the land then called Israel, then had their society crushed by the Romans and at this point, the land called Israel was renamed Palestine by a Roman with hate in his heart for "the jews. Then, along comes the newly organized Muslim world and occupies all of the land called Israel and all the lands around it. This time Jews left for multiple places around the world--concentrating in what is now called Europe. In Spain they were persecuted by the Inquisition, along with anyone who angered the religious powers of Spain (a lot of different peoples). Again Jews lost their home and were forced to leave. In England, they faced some persecution and some left for America. Many made their homes in what is now called France and Germany. And what is now called Russia and Poland and Ukraine. Unfortunately hate raised its ugly head and many jews were killed is all of these areas or forced to leave--again and again. One ship full of Jews even left from Northern Europe during the height of WW2 and was denied entry by our President Roosevelt and returned to where it came from for more persecution and death.
So I guess you could say that it would be great if the now Jews from the now nation of Israel would just leave for a wonderful idyllic island someplace but that is a fairy tale. If history means anything, then we can demise that they will be persecuted and hated wherever they go unless the world has a softening of its heart. Wouldn't it be best that they remain in the tiny little country that now is being called Palestine by much of the world. This is where their people started, where the nation started.
Footnote: When I took a Christian tour in 2003, there had been huge conflict--so much so that we were the only tour bus I saw the entire trip, and we were only a party of 18. It was striking how similar the landscape was to Texas and I thought how perhaps we could give them West Texas land--a state the size of New Jersey would barely take up any room, and they had worked miracles of getting the land now called Palestine to bloom and become a productive environment again after so much time being a desert only good for crazing a few sheep. But, I assumed that they would be welcomed here--instead we see all the ugly hate boiling up in many US cities. Hatred seems to be controlling so many of the peoples of the world.
If only there were a beautiful Island waiting for the Jewish people to come settle--so where would that be????
Yes...exactly hatred and corruption is alive and well as it has always been and for that reason West Texas or West anywhere where others are settled is not the answer. Mormons (large group with a unique belief) moved to the middle of nowhere and now few would argue that wasn't a good choice for them and for the US...when was the last war between Mormons and anyone...?
There are many places in the world...acres upon acres of better land that is unoccupied. For Instance: The National Park System encompasses 425 national park sites in the United States. They span across more than 84 million acres. I'm sure that carving off some of that land or one of the thousands of islands still uninhabited is a better solution than risking a world war. Insane how many times the Jews were pushed out. Beyond sad. Settling in a space that no one can push you out of? Brilliant.
My family too, took 35,000 acres from native Americans around 1800. 50 years later, those pesky Americans unseated us ... who has claims on the Napa Valley? Us? the original natives? Or the current people paying property taxes?
And who would be in charge of this new Palestinian state if the State of Israel were 'removed' to some island? Hamas? Assad? Hezbollah? Or do those players just suddenly become peaceful ideal rulers and citizens? I suspect Iran would be the new biggest player, which of course would send SA, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, et al sounding war alarms. They can't abide the Mullahs on their borders and in their neighborhoods (nuke-armed to boot). So much for "They are a relatively small population surrounded by insanely large population that doesn't share their world view." which is what the OP you replied to wrote. The Abraham Accords, the treaties with Egypt, with the UAE et al, the warming of relations with SA are all signs that many Islamic rulers do indeed share a world view. It's the terrorist elements within that disagree and resort to mayhem and barbarity. No sane Islamic state's rulers want Hamas and their ilk in their neighborhood.
Israel isn't going anywhere and it's delusional to think it would. And you've noted quite well why they shouldn't have to again. Never again.
"never again" was societies cry after the true nature of the holocaust was revealed. Granted, keeping in mind the human nature of mankind, it does not seem to be achievable. Non the less it is a goal to strive for even if we fail over and over again. It certainly isn't putting a foot down on the neck of the entire world.
Yes...I should have been clearer. What I mean is that 'Never Again' as a stand alone motto is too open and infers..'by any means necessary'. Again...on micro level it can be heard from women who have been severely abused for instance. Does it infer that she will kill the next guy who raises a hand to her? By what means does 'never again' happen? When I was being stalked by my best friends brother (wealthy, prominent family in CT) he broke into my house 4 times..once after leaving the judges cambers who told him 'not 50 miles from this town'. Rather than kill him the next time he broke in, I escaped...no one knew of my whereabouts. 'Never again' was I tortured by him. This rally cry Never Again now by both sides of the conflict is instead a WAR cry that in the 21st century could easily drag the entire world into a nuclear nightmare. My point is not that I don't support Never Again...but rather what is the CREATIVE idea other than war to achieve the goal?
Stay put?...the terrorist elements remain close at hand and will never stop which means a world war in the 21st century which would nuke civilization back to the stone age? and this is not delusional thinking?..or maybe try moving thousands of miles away from the hot mess and limit the evil terrorist who follow you? Clearly, staying put is NOT working or we wouldn't be here...so how about plan B? (The accords and treaties are words on paper not space.)
There was a unified front from the Muslim/Islamic countries against ISIS. Not one of them espoused moving away from ISIS' hot mess. They all stayed put and either helped to eliminate the terrorists, or supported in some way those who fought them. Bullies don't become benign because you give in to them.
And as far as 'not working', this is the theme of Heather's essay here today: "Holding steady in a storm". "A kind of winning". "All is not lost".
ISIS is a false equivalency in my view. Rather Hatfield–McCoy (simplistic micro ex). The decades long feud never would have happened if one family just moved. Even if you are in the right it doesn't follow that you should stay at all costs. Digging in heels often just get you stuck in the madness. Ask people have had a divorce how many had to sacrifice their home, kids, or money just to be free and out of what promised to be years of hell. Moving is not always giving in to bullies (who often NEVER get it)...it's providing sanity for yourself and family.
As we stand on the brink of an Israeli genocide of Palestinians, I cannot help feeling that encapsulating the whole of the problem here as "antisemitism" misses a huge portion of the facts, and the bias, that are relevant to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Again, I wish you would talk to, or read, Norman Finkelstein to challenge your beliefs.
The Jewish community has successfully invented the concept that even justified criticism of the nation state, or any misbehaving Jewish person into a crime ... down to the point that investigating Martin Skreli --the horrible monster that he is, is somehow a hate crime.
I doubt there's really any such coherent entity as "the Jewish community." Not all Jews are Zionists, not all Zionists are Jews. And not all who support Israel play the game that criticism of Israel is automatically proof of antisemitism, and can therefore be disregarded. But yes, there is a common tactic one sees around the discourse about Israel-Palestine of painting all moves and motives of Israel as purely defensive, and all critics as necessary antisemites. It is one of the many ways that talking productively about the reality on the ground is made ever more difficult.
Last year I took my parents and my girlfriend to see Rodger Waters. We had all grown up on Pink Floyd, and could probably sing along with most of their catalog. So many people of all different sorts and from so many backgrounds, brought together to celebrate music. He could have led us through a series of sing-alongs and it would have been a love fest. But no, he went straight into radicalized politics, complete with 4 giant screens for the video content. A few of his points really did make sense, but the majority of the show was more propaganda than art. At one point he stopped to tell us that anyone who thought the show was too political could 'fuck off'. As we left the show, the crowds were abnormally quite. It was such a waste. What could have brought people together instead drove them apart. What could have been one of those concerts you remember for a lifetime came out as something I would rather forget. What a shame.
Such a waste indeed. I wonder what could have been--if "a few of his points really did make sense," how could Waters have ended up, instead, a human being who was able to listen to people around him, who kept people around him who pushed back?
Thank you for this hopeful perspective. Understanding how numbers and functions work to model the world is what fascinates me, so I’ll continue to use that to motivate my lessons as a public university faculty member. I appreciated when my professors provided a neutral and focused learning space for us in the days after 9/11. I found refuge in my studies when the world seemed to be falling apart around me. No politics, no opinions, just pure mathematics to fascinate us and for us to revel in. I intend to do the same for my students. That’s what they want from me and that’s what I’m good at anyway. Keeping afloat and doing my job. Thank you again for the recentering.
Thank you Heather, I’m always so grateful for your perspective. Much love to you and yours.
Thank you for the thoughtful words and message.
"Holding steady in a storm like this is a kind of winning."
Like birds, many small airplanes can hover in place against a strong enough headwind. Lift is produced by the passage of wind over an airfoil. It matters not if the wind is produced by the thrust of the engine or the wild energy of a weather system. Either one will keep you airborne, if you know how to ride the currents.
I love to watch the pelicans use air currents inside of waves to “surf”. They have finger-like feathers at the tips of their long wings that just barely graze above the face of the wave. That’s magic to me.
Your comment was magic to me. ;-)
Yes, Heather, thank you, hold steady, steady on.
thanks, Heather. I appreciate the clear thinking and beautiful metaphor. "keeping one's head when all around are loosing theirs", comes to mind.
I find myself vacillating wildly between hopefulness and nihilism (depending on who's podcast I listened to that day). yet with every differing view, I learn some new tidbit, some valid perspective I never thought about before.
weathering the storm as a kind of winning... I'll take some comfort in that today. don't know about tomorrow, but at least I feel a little better about taking it one day at a time and hoping cooler heads will prevail.
So true, well stated. One day at a time.
Thank you for a somewhat comforting piece. I find some feeling of being settled in reading it.
VERY helpful especially are the links you embedded.
I once stood against the wind in a hurricane. I couldn't take a step forward, but I wasn't pushed back either. Just like the gulls.
It was sufficient for the moment.
'But hatred finds common ground, and from there, it grows.'
This is so true. In a sense hatred is the inescable cultural ethic that woke projects - it amplifies othering like a disabling feedback loop. It robs families, communities and institutions of love - the willingness to sacrifice for each other or operate in good faith. It hobbles any chance we have to speak to each other much less understand each other. And most perniciously it entrenches disgust for each other, without any hope of redemption, as the starting place for relationships. What could be more hateful than this?
Bret dismissed the idea that mean IQ in the west could be dropping for "a single reason" like the disappearance of harsh selection. I could not expand upon those comments due to space. The OTHER reason that IQ is declining in the west is that the most intelligent among us are foregoing parenthood entirely, or limiting themselves to a single "designer child". All the while paying intellectually substandard people to have more babies for a bigger payout from the state.
You and Bret have two, which is out of the norm. Very welcome, but hardly enough to reverse the trend. And don't you admit that steadily declining IQ in the west explains a lot of what we are seeing?
IQ could be a useful metric if it could be accurately defined and accurately measured, neither of which is possible. There is no doubt significance to whatever is being measured, but its murky nature allows creative interpretation.
There is no map where we are going. There are ramps which we can possibly exit off, but we are seeing a dark cloud above not due to the change in the weather but the burning down of cities. We ALL want to be safe, secure, well loved, and be productive. Many of us are also trying to maintain a balance, we are retired, but things are different from what we had planned. We aren’t getting accurate, truthful, non-biased information we can’t make good decisions with shit information. In the back of my mind I fear there is a group of people instigating, pushing, making things very bad for us to see how we react/respond. I do not know or understand their motives, I just know they are not people I would hang out with, share a beer and a hot dog with.
This is exactly how I feel. It’s all manipulation. It will take a while for me to figure it out, if I ever do
Noreen, we travel the road together.
Burning down our cities ... people don't see the genetic selection responsible for those pesky colonists. Colonialism is the result of one group of people having superior tools, organization abilities, or some other undefined powers over another people. Why do those pesky white Northern European peoples seem to have greater powers? Well, for starters, the far north is a harsh brutal place, unforgiving to individuals who are lacking in a collection of basic traits which we collectively call personal responsibility.
Through our largesse, we have invited less responsible peoples to our northern country, and these people are demonstrating the depths of their irresponsibility.
Jimmy Buffet had a song titled "Changes in latitude, Changes in attitude." Last week the podcast covered this concept exactly, only in relation to species diversity and climate survivability. Well it goes for primate critters too, even genus homo.
IQ is the most reliable measurement of "G" general intelligence. It has been proven over and over thar concepts like "emotional intelligence" are chimera. Real intelligence manifests itself in all areas. Almost all the people shouting that "IQ is an incomplete measurement of REAL intelligence" are people of only slightly above mean IQ and think that they are smarter than their numbers indicate. Dunning-Kruger as it manifests among self-described "intellectuals".
This is the truth. Some wish it were not so, but it is truth. If I only had six extra IQ points, I could do--and have done--so much better. I'm smart enough to know how much smarter I could be.
We every one of us do what we can. You only get dealt one hand in life and you have to make the best of what you have to work with. I wish I was smarter (and prettier, faster, more coordinated and had better eyesight) I could certainly have pursued other goals. At almost two standard deviations above the present mean, I would have been solidly at the mean in 1800. Fortunately, I don't have to outthink James Watt. What I have served me adequately in my own time and I have to be satisfied with that.
How can that be? The Flynn effect only starting reversing in some western nations within the last 10 years. I've heard this before, but have doubts about that.
Read "At Our Wit's End" or any of the other books by Dr Edward Dutton. You may be surprised how long this has been going on. I, for one am surprised at the resistance to these ideas and disdain for the logical processes that lead to them are in the west. "The Marching Morons" by CM Cornbluth identified these trends in the 1950's.
Sounds like eugenics crap to me. Lay off the proto-NSDAP, eh? You are ringing a Bell... Curve.
Eugenics doesn't work. Never has. Even if a mechanism is in place to promote the breeding of the most fit at the expense of the less fit, humans are poor judges of what makes a "fitter" human. Look at every wild animal that humans have shaped by selective breeding. None seems to be as healthy and intelligent as the animals they were bred from. Even the smartest herding breeds of dogs have smaller brains and less intelligence than the wolves they were bred from. The only "answer" has been and still is civilizational collapse back into harsh selection. Which is why so many otherwise intelligent people are denying what is right before their eyes.
OK, I'll bite since I bear first responsibility for responding to this flawed thesis:
Us toolmakers, assuming we retain some technological knowhow post-apocalypse, will have a head start on inevitably recreating the means of our own destruction. Unless we can find better metrics for generating (and evaluating) 'progress'.
There is an old saying, the truth of which has been demonstrated repeatedly, "Hard men make good times. Good times make weak men. Weak men make for hard times" A bit of an over simplification of a common observation, but not invalid.
That comes from a very recent piece of post-apocalyptic sci-fi. It is recent FICTION.
Perhaps. Dispute it if you can. And as far as RECENT goes, we're you born when it was published?
If we are to avoid bombing (or the equivalent) ourselves 'back to the stone age' as they say, I believe Bret and Heather have been proposing it would be best that we do invalidate that old saying, and--until now?--they have been seeking an improved cultural paradigm to that end. That would be the truly liberal answer to your inevitable doomsday scenario. It is a long shot, but we need to attempt it and it begins with presently almost non-existent academic/political/corporate leadership to that end. Again, a very long shot.
If interpersonal conflict could be eliminated, a lot of human history could be forgotten. Unfortunately, nature proceeds by competition between individuals. Human groups also compete for resources. They always have. Our current WEIRD glut of luxuries can't be sustained. That 33+ trillion dollars of US debt will have to be paid by SOMEONE (even if that is a gross underestimate). The WHO proposal of changes to their own charter should be sufficient to convince anyone that a One World Government will only benefit its own elites.
I find I am handling this situation in a much calmer and more productive manner than I did Covid. I find that Covid was a sort of practice round for the next crisis. However, that being said, I find I am still as equally devastated as I was in 2020/2021 by the difference between the potential of our world and its reality.
Recently I took a trip to St. Louis where I enjoyed the sights of classic art and beautiful historic architecture, the tastes of delicious Italian food and well-crafted beer, and enjoyed the humor and love of close friends. It was a perfect reminder of that potential I see in the world and life, and it acted as a reminder of the importance of striving upward and looking past the only option being presented to us now: darkness.
The memory of this weekend, I believe, will be an important benchmark within my memory to which I can return to in times such as these, which I fear will be a constant presence throughout the foreseeable future.
The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case is a classic example of a manufactured narrative. The Conservative Treehouse did deep dive reporting into the case including FOIA requests that showed most of what we were told was a lie. Zimmerman clearly was being stupid, but the evidence that Martin had a long history of being a thug and doing robberies was well documented. Also, Zimmerman was hyspanic and portrayed as only white. A very old picture of Martin was used in the press which made him look young and sweet, he was neither. This case reminded me of when I fell for the Tawana Brawley manipulation at a younger age so now I have to dig more before I believe anything in the press.
Very good friends of mine were BLM supporters and I can understand how people would fall for them. Had I been younger I likely would have.
I have much admiration for the lyricist who put "houseproud town mouse" in a song. But his fascination with the uniforms and symbols of national socialism--his own public cosplay--in his stage theatrics after all these years betray his beliefs as recently espoused and as displayed in more private settings. He is his own kind of pig--a fourth different one.
If we look at world (macro level) through the lens of our experience (micro level) we see obvious but painful solutions. When my abusive husband (does it matter that he was a doctor? a jew? a man?...shall I now revenge on all doctors, jews, and men?) was beyond living with for safety and sanity for myself and my sons, I was forced to leave MY dream home (a home only possible by the support of my parents) and FLEE. When my now husband was married to a woman who cheated on him and forced him out of a family home that was passed on to HIM and took his children through alienation syndrome, should he have fought her or just left so that his children wouldn't be traumatized and maybe she would realize that this insult that didn't get the results she hoped for would mean she would tire of her game and eventually leave? She did. When a family are victims of atrocities like a child being kidnapped and chopped into pieces with DNA confirming the murder, but they are still forced to sit in a court room day in and day out, rather than exact revenge that understandably burns in their hearts, we see that on a micro level we are forced into civilization. If we each personally acted on all the injustices we face in life by killing those who have wronged us and bombing the neighborhood they live in, where would we be now? Israel for all its RIGHT to home must face the fact that the deep and twisted road of the wrongs of the past..theirs and their enemies will NEVER be untangled. They are a relatively small population surrounded by insanely large population that doesn't share their world view. Should the entire planet now be dragged into a world war when the clear answer is to move out of enemy territory and relocate? HOME is where safety and sanity are had. Logic tells you that when if/when a person or a group insist on holding on to a location to the point of death, not just for their families but putting millions at risk, they are nothing but religious zealots, sentimental fools or barbaric idiots. There are places in the world, large islands and beautiful lush lands that the Israel state can relocate to. If there is a question of how long it will take to move 9 million people think of the money available by reallocating war funding and calling on peace-loving nations to contribute to end the madness. You only need to look at the so-called unsupported raid on our border to see how many people can be relocated WITHOUT legitimate resources. In under a decade the new state will flourish when energy is spent building not fighting. Again, what side caused the problem it is no longer the issue. If you are taking a side after centuries of tit for tat and don't see this now as a scrambled, dangerously divisive nightmare you are not a critical thinker. The only WHO that matters are the ones that design a way to a SANE solution. Any talk or action that divides... mostly clueless populations who couldn't pass a 10 question quiz on the issues, yet now scream 'KILL THEM ALL' , will bring the world to its knees if they are allowed to call the shots. You are not allowed seek revenge of death for wrongs done to you personally (you go to jail!) nations should not be allowed to do so either.
Move out of enemy territory and relocate? Seems like they have moved out so many times before. Moved out of Mesopotamia to the land then called Israel, then to Egypt, then back to the land then called Israel, then to Babylon, then back to the land then called Israel, then had their society crushed by the Romans and at this point, the land called Israel was renamed Palestine by a Roman with hate in his heart for "the jews. Then, along comes the newly organized Muslim world and occupies all of the land called Israel and all the lands around it. This time Jews left for multiple places around the world--concentrating in what is now called Europe. In Spain they were persecuted by the Inquisition, along with anyone who angered the religious powers of Spain (a lot of different peoples). Again Jews lost their home and were forced to leave. In England, they faced some persecution and some left for America. Many made their homes in what is now called France and Germany. And what is now called Russia and Poland and Ukraine. Unfortunately hate raised its ugly head and many jews were killed is all of these areas or forced to leave--again and again. One ship full of Jews even left from Northern Europe during the height of WW2 and was denied entry by our President Roosevelt and returned to where it came from for more persecution and death.
So I guess you could say that it would be great if the now Jews from the now nation of Israel would just leave for a wonderful idyllic island someplace but that is a fairy tale. If history means anything, then we can demise that they will be persecuted and hated wherever they go unless the world has a softening of its heart. Wouldn't it be best that they remain in the tiny little country that now is being called Palestine by much of the world. This is where their people started, where the nation started.
Footnote: When I took a Christian tour in 2003, there had been huge conflict--so much so that we were the only tour bus I saw the entire trip, and we were only a party of 18. It was striking how similar the landscape was to Texas and I thought how perhaps we could give them West Texas land--a state the size of New Jersey would barely take up any room, and they had worked miracles of getting the land now called Palestine to bloom and become a productive environment again after so much time being a desert only good for crazing a few sheep. But, I assumed that they would be welcomed here--instead we see all the ugly hate boiling up in many US cities. Hatred seems to be controlling so many of the peoples of the world.
If only there were a beautiful Island waiting for the Jewish people to come settle--so where would that be????
Yes...exactly hatred and corruption is alive and well as it has always been and for that reason West Texas or West anywhere where others are settled is not the answer. Mormons (large group with a unique belief) moved to the middle of nowhere and now few would argue that wasn't a good choice for them and for the US...when was the last war between Mormons and anyone...?
There are many places in the world...acres upon acres of better land that is unoccupied. For Instance: The National Park System encompasses 425 national park sites in the United States. They span across more than 84 million acres. I'm sure that carving off some of that land or one of the thousands of islands still uninhabited is a better solution than risking a world war. Insane how many times the Jews were pushed out. Beyond sad. Settling in a space that no one can push you out of? Brilliant.
My family too, took 35,000 acres from native Americans around 1800. 50 years later, those pesky Americans unseated us ... who has claims on the Napa Valley? Us? the original natives? Or the current people paying property taxes?
The UN granted that land to the Jewish people. Blame the UN.
The "twice promised land".
Very well said.
And who would be in charge of this new Palestinian state if the State of Israel were 'removed' to some island? Hamas? Assad? Hezbollah? Or do those players just suddenly become peaceful ideal rulers and citizens? I suspect Iran would be the new biggest player, which of course would send SA, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, et al sounding war alarms. They can't abide the Mullahs on their borders and in their neighborhoods (nuke-armed to boot). So much for "They are a relatively small population surrounded by insanely large population that doesn't share their world view." which is what the OP you replied to wrote. The Abraham Accords, the treaties with Egypt, with the UAE et al, the warming of relations with SA are all signs that many Islamic rulers do indeed share a world view. It's the terrorist elements within that disagree and resort to mayhem and barbarity. No sane Islamic state's rulers want Hamas and their ilk in their neighborhood.
Israel isn't going anywhere and it's delusional to think it would. And you've noted quite well why they shouldn't have to again. Never again.
thank you AE. Yes, never again!
'Never again' is putting a foot down on the neck of the entire world.
"never again" was societies cry after the true nature of the holocaust was revealed. Granted, keeping in mind the human nature of mankind, it does not seem to be achievable. Non the less it is a goal to strive for even if we fail over and over again. It certainly isn't putting a foot down on the neck of the entire world.
Yes...I should have been clearer. What I mean is that 'Never Again' as a stand alone motto is too open and infers..'by any means necessary'. Again...on micro level it can be heard from women who have been severely abused for instance. Does it infer that she will kill the next guy who raises a hand to her? By what means does 'never again' happen? When I was being stalked by my best friends brother (wealthy, prominent family in CT) he broke into my house 4 times..once after leaving the judges cambers who told him 'not 50 miles from this town'. Rather than kill him the next time he broke in, I escaped...no one knew of my whereabouts. 'Never again' was I tortured by him. This rally cry Never Again now by both sides of the conflict is instead a WAR cry that in the 21st century could easily drag the entire world into a nuclear nightmare. My point is not that I don't support Never Again...but rather what is the CREATIVE idea other than war to achieve the goal?
Stay put?...the terrorist elements remain close at hand and will never stop which means a world war in the 21st century which would nuke civilization back to the stone age? and this is not delusional thinking?..or maybe try moving thousands of miles away from the hot mess and limit the evil terrorist who follow you? Clearly, staying put is NOT working or we wouldn't be here...so how about plan B? (The accords and treaties are words on paper not space.)
There was a unified front from the Muslim/Islamic countries against ISIS. Not one of them espoused moving away from ISIS' hot mess. They all stayed put and either helped to eliminate the terrorists, or supported in some way those who fought them. Bullies don't become benign because you give in to them.
And as far as 'not working', this is the theme of Heather's essay here today: "Holding steady in a storm". "A kind of winning". "All is not lost".
ISIS is a false equivalency in my view. Rather Hatfield–McCoy (simplistic micro ex). The decades long feud never would have happened if one family just moved. Even if you are in the right it doesn't follow that you should stay at all costs. Digging in heels often just get you stuck in the madness. Ask people have had a divorce how many had to sacrifice their home, kids, or money just to be free and out of what promised to be years of hell. Moving is not always giving in to bullies (who often NEVER get it)...it's providing sanity for yourself and family.
We just don't know, Candide. We keep working on it.
As we stand on the brink of an Israeli genocide of Palestinians, I cannot help feeling that encapsulating the whole of the problem here as "antisemitism" misses a huge portion of the facts, and the bias, that are relevant to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Again, I wish you would talk to, or read, Norman Finkelstein to challenge your beliefs.
The Jewish community has successfully invented the concept that even justified criticism of the nation state, or any misbehaving Jewish person into a crime ... down to the point that investigating Martin Skreli --the horrible monster that he is, is somehow a hate crime.
I doubt there's really any such coherent entity as "the Jewish community." Not all Jews are Zionists, not all Zionists are Jews. And not all who support Israel play the game that criticism of Israel is automatically proof of antisemitism, and can therefore be disregarded. But yes, there is a common tactic one sees around the discourse about Israel-Palestine of painting all moves and motives of Israel as purely defensive, and all critics as necessary antisemites. It is one of the many ways that talking productively about the reality on the ground is made ever more difficult.