I think the problem is, as indicated in the comments above, ordinary people are being incited to fear a totalitarian regime, whether it’s a left or right regime. While I do not think the above portrait is accurate (the comment with which you heartily disagree), a left that is completely blind to its own excesses leaves room for those other voices to fill the void. I have not fact-checked Nellie Bowles’ portrait of CHAZ, for example (I do not have the wherewithal), but I do think I render mysejf vulnerable for even bringing it up, or even bringing her up. Which is a problem. This is terrifying because of everything you wrote in your column: I feel like we are caught between a rock snd a hard place, pivoting to the center without saying why which leaves people suspicious of the real agenda. But saying why would make us appear weak, which you can’t have in politics. I am actively supporting the democrats in the #1 toss up house district in Colorado (deep canvassing) bc I think the aspirations of the left are towards the good, even if we have a LOT of work to do in the empathy department as it extends to people outside of the left’s zone of care (ie people who see the world differently). I think the aspirations of the right are toward the unabashed self-enriching, at the expense of everything in the commons, ie nature.
To me, the left seems to have actively created a vacuum that pathological people like Vance have stepped in to fill. We need to win this fucking thing and really self-examine why and how we let that happen.
I don't understand what you mean by this? " I do think I render mysejf vulnerable for even bringing it up, or even bringing her up." Bring up whoever you want, please! I didn't really know about her... I just read the NYer review of her book. I think one problem is that many Western intellectual / artistic type people are naturally rebels who seek to identify from whatever they think is orthodoxy... This is how you had Leftists like Jerry Rubin or David Horowitz become Right Wing Reaganites... There is also the question of energy and attention that drives people. If I was pushing the RFK to Trump, CO2 doesn't equal warming narrative I would have gotten more attention too. Some people need to be at the center of attention even at the cost of their principles.
I don't think "the left" "created a vacuum". I think any serious Left was targeted and destroyed decades ago, as I explored in other essays. Not allowing the US to have a legitimate Left was a long-term mistake of the US security complex, which was paranoiac and over-reached in many instances, as with the overthrow of Iran in 1952 or the overthrow of Allende in the 70s. The US should have allowed for experiments in different degrees of socialism and socialization instead of seeing that as a direct threat. The problem is -- as we now see clearly -- there are a lot of descendants of the American pioneers who fought the Native peoples and owned slaves or benefited from slavery, and who are, deep down, white Christian nationalists. These people are still living in the last century. Because of the Electoral College, they have become a major threat.
Hmm what I meant by that Nellie Bowles comment is that, in my experience, questioning the left's (excesses? missteps? whatever you want to call them) has become akin to being on the right. I was thinking not so much about the response here, within your community, but in general. I am certainly no historian; I will look for your other essays about the annihilation of the left, which is undoubtedly a major factor in the left's hobbling, but am I wrong in understanding that the primary purpose of the Iranian coup was not about containing communism but rather about the nationalization of oil? Is that some incomplete/slanted narrative? Genuine question.
In terms of white Christian nationalism, yeah. But I think they are just the most potent force in a broader coalition of people (like RFK followers) who I think are much more diverse, not necessarily Christian nationalist, who believe that the government is the whole problem. If they have to be aligned with people like that in order to stop the government from meddling in/taking over our lives, then I think they're like "so be it." That's my impression from being in spaces like that.
And by the "vacuum" comment, I am thinking that it's more of an "all of the above" situation. I agree with Ian below that Citizens United has absolutely changed the nature of campaigns and elections (obviously - not even something to possibly disagree with!). I also, anecdotally, have seen plenty of apathy. I VIVIDLY remember 2010, when people just sat out the midterms because I guess voting is super hard. I know retired people who have literally nothing to do but still work harder at getting out of jury duty than almost anything else. This is what I mean by apathy: anecdotal apathy, apathy I've observed among my peers. People who might put up a yard sign but don't want to knock doors or make phone calls because it's uncomfortable, even now. Throughout my entire childhood, I didn't know ONE politically active person (as far as I knew), and I lived in Potomac, Maryland (surburban DC). That's the apathy I'm talking about. That's the negligence that I believe helped to get us here. Everyone was very content with their pool parties and dinners at The Palm.
(I hope it's abundantly obvious that by "everyone" I am speaking of people in those kinds of communities, people who could have been working towards preserving and expanding but instead were just enjoying their private lives. I am NOT speaking of or ignoring the incredible, ongoing, tireless work of many many others. My criticism is aimed at a very specific demographic at whom I am hurling the accusation of apathy.)
The problem seems clear. Citizens United opened the door to massive capital controlling elections, the far right created a cult to control most working class voters, so Dems needed to go to the oligarchy for campaign money.
Our own apathy lead us here. If we want change in the party, we need to make it. Vote young progressive candidates that will support ranked choice voting and voter lead district maps so that we can threaten the establishment politicians.
Change starts with a good foundation. It doesn’t start at the top and change the entire system over night. The fact that people expect that to happen and refuse to participate if we can’t accomplish it is the problem. If we didn’t have that, these fascists wouldn’t be the threat that they are.
Have you noticed no one talks about campaign reform or citizens united anymore? The absurdity of it is political office is about buying votes. The presidential campaigns will spend at least a billion dollars to win office this year. If we are ever to get independent candidates , non donor dependent public servants then this must be changed. This is precisely why everyone can no longer tolerate the stench of political corruption imo .
Indeed, we should have public funded campaigns on official platforms. We should also make it a civic requirement to vote. Many do not because they say they are uninformed, but if they had to, then they could get informed. Such a lame excuse, really, when there are so many resources available.
How do you think this vacuum was created? I tend to think it has been due to the severe betrayal and disgust for the working class by the managerial class, who once championed their rights and cause. Now the managerial class thinks they have too much freedom , too many dangerous beliefs etc. The continual ignoring, dismissing and ghosting of working class and their biggest concerns has resulted in a populist uprising that cannot now be stopped by pulling rank intellectually , moralizing , or talking down to the "deplorables". Essentially the Democratic Party has become a full fledged servant of the 1% while pretending to be what they once aspired to be. DJT is further to the left than they are, which is why so many long term Democrats and liberals are jumping ship.
absolutely. Freddie DeBoer just wrote about that Chuck Schumer quote yesterday:
"I am increasingly convinced that Chuck Schumer’s notorious comment before the 2016 election is a Rosetta Stone for the 21st century Democratic party. Schumer said, “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.” Whoops! That didn’t happen. The states most associated with deindustrialization - Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin - went for Trump. That was a bad decision on the parts of those voters, but I understand even while I don’t approve; when the National Honors Society members that ran Obama’s administration governed with total indifference for the suffering happening in these states, they guaranteed a backlash, and it’s our bad luck that that backlash came in the form of Donald Trump. It doesn’t matter if the choice to vote for Trump was a good or bad decision. It was a consequence of the supposedly progressive party forgetting the most central and sacred duty of progressivism: to make sure no one is left behind."
I don't think this is the only thing, and I'm no social scientist, but my anecdotal personal observations throughout my post-adolescence is that comfortable people forget, very quickly, what it's like to be uncomfortable. They congratulate themselves a lot, and focus on the next thing in front of them - vacation, whatever - rather than digging deep and trying to understand society in general. That's not to say they don't do great work: many people I've grown up with are very active in the community, philanthropic, super generous wtih time and money towards those less fortunate. But the curiosity to understand root problems isn't there. Maybe people just aren't that intelligent, in the real sense of the word. They don't have higher intelligence nor the drive to pursue deeper inquiry: they just want to succeed and thrive, and lay out a path for their children to do the same. I kind of get it, but I have always seen it as a very "halfway" way to live, even among the very, very successful (I have lived in very privileged communities).
I agree about the democrats as managerial class ignoring the working class which created the vacuum. I don’t believe Trump is more to the left or will actually help them. Cutting taxes on the wealth and cutting social services, etc. But yes the ruining of the working class is the big underlying issue and the Dems and liberal technocrats were totally tone deaf to this. For instance promoting self driving trucks without thinking of the impacts on 3 million truck drivers.
That's a really great and insightful piece by Freddie DeBoer, thanks for linking it.
It's a healthy antidote - because of how clear, articulate and straightforward the argument, and how much he respects the intelligence of his readers - to the narcissistic New Age blather of a Charles Eisenstein, which is lost in cloudy abstraction and endless pseudo-intellectual pomposity.
This quote was especially apt; “ It’s remarkable. The amount of human devastation in the deindustrialized spaces in the United States has been unthinkable. Entire communities where the most common source of personal income is disability payments, fentanyl addiction rates in the double digits, 60+% unemployment rates among workers aged 18-25, collapsing municipal services, a doom loop of people fleeing all of that destruction which in turn devastates the tax base even more”
I want to point out these include the much gaslighted , maligned and shamed residents of Springfield Ohio. The one’s whose real condition is reduced
to the absurdity of having their pets eaten. This is an affront that I suspect will not go unnoticed at election time , there and throughout the rust belt .
Oh I'm so glad! He really is a special writer; if you had not come across his work before, you're in for a treat. He's a really unique person — and I agree, the contrast between him and someone like Charles kind of helps round out the entire picture of what we're seeing (I guess that's kind of an important point in general: it's hard to see anything (ideas, an x-ray, lierally every object in the world) without contrast). I would trust Freddie over Charles or Russell any day.
Sometimes I wonder how many comments, like some of the brainwashed ones here, are not actually real people. Bots? Russian tools? Basic trolls? Trumps openly states what he'll do, and it would end democracy. It's not rocket science.
Paranoia will destroy you. Do you see what you just did? You bought into a strategically placed, media sanctioned and highly propagated conspiracy theory meme. This fear mongering is most likely is in service to the military-intelligence -complex, Cold War , American empire and electoral control agendas. This is right out of the red scare McCarthy era. It quite possibly provides cover and excuses for covert operations and the undermining of political dissent. Laws are being crafted to punish speech / government criticisms that in anyway similar to anything from a foreign government even though there is no connection between those parties. A example used is that theoretically even a little old lady in Switzerland that donates money to an orphanage linked to a terrorist organization ( say Hamas) could be jailed as a terrorist or terrorist accomplice. You might listen to Julian Assange's recent testimony on this.
I’m a lifelong liberal and have voted Democrat and Independent for the 30 years that Ive been able to vote. I left the US disgusted after Bush jr was elected. Came back to an Obama presidency with glee. I cried in horror when Trump got elected the first time. But I started to see who the Dems really are when Bernie was running in 2018. I started following politics very closely at that point. I had an awakening during Covid to the level of corruption happening .. and the corporations and organizations that run this country. The democrats are the republicans of the 80s-90s.. they are the neocons, they are anti democracy, freedom of speech.. in my opinion they are the fascists.
Ive been watching you confused by the dems that are moving to back Trump.. I’m sorry that it just hasn’t clicked for you. I agree with you on many points and observations, but you’re not looking big picture and what’s at stake if we let this giant censorship, war, pharmaceutical machine take hold.
Conveniently, in the case of Donald Trump we have his four-year record as president to judge his policy approach, his competence, the wisdom of his selection of a cabinet and support team, his truthfulness or lack thereof, his attitude toward the Constitution, and his larger belief system and the way in which it plays out in governance.
Policy-wise, upon entering office he instituted a ban on all Muslims entering the country; he attempted to build a wall along the US Mexico border and failed, though the environmental effects of the attempt have been devastating for the region; he reinstituted the crippling sanctions against Cuba and regressed our diplomacy with the country; he tore up the agreement by which Iran agreed not to develop its nuclear arsenal; he insanely and provocatively recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy there; he appointed Rex Tillerson, environmentally nihilist former CEO of Exxon, as his Secretary of State; he appointed Steve Bannon to his administration and others who adhere to the philosophy of " the destruction of the administrative state," by which they mean all government oversight over the corporate destruction of the biosphere and our health and wellness should be removed and corporations should be given libertarian free reign to masticate what remains of our health and life on earth; his refusal to even recognize the reality of climate chaos is either indication of a terrifying ignorance or a deadly cynicism; Donald escalated xenophobic, racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric to a terrifying level, verbally and explicitly empowering white power thug gangs like the proud boys and provoking a spike in hate crimes across the country; Donald screwed the pooch so catastrophically with the COVID pandemic that one million Americans ended up dead - this was primarily due to the fact that he dragged his feet recognizing and engaging with the crisis publicly because he feared how doing so might affect his reelection chances; upon losing the election in 2020, he pretended publicly to believe that he won & he engaged in multiple actions to attempt to overturn the results of the election; Donald's most significant legislative accomplishment was passing a massive tax cut for the ultrarich; Donald has been very candid in his authoritarian rhetoric and in his admiration for his fellow authoritarians in power throughout the world. So, when it comes to voting for Donald Trump, we are fortunate to have a robust public record of both his governance and his shockingly toxic rhetoric disparaging and threatening all who do not share his sexist, libertarian capitalist and bigoted disposition.
On the bright side, at least Trump will surely help Charles Eisenstein in his program for the Healing of the Masculine and his noble attempts to combat Misogyny:
"My new home of West Asheville is in the news. A local coffee shop, Waking Life Espresso, closed its doors after its owners Jared Rutledge and Jacob Owens were outed for hosting a misogynistic blog. In addition to repulsive and degrading comments about women and details of their supposed sexual exploits, they boasted of one or two incidents that may have crossed the line into rape."
With sensitive, heartfelt, ardent feminist Donald Trump at the helm, there can be no doubt that Charles' online course Masculinity: A New Story will soon be making its way into schools all over America:
"When I was young, I saw plenty of examples of a masculinity that was dominating and violent, that was cut off from emotions, that was afraid to cry and afraid to be seen, that was deeply insecure, that couldn’t really hear, see, and hold the energy of the feminine, that wasn’t in service to life. I didn’t want to be like that. Moving away from that model of masculinity, what is there to move into?"
I can't wait for President DBD ("Drill Baby Drill") to effusively endorse Session Six of Charles' wonderful course: From Mother Earth to Lover Earth:
I'm so glad the once and future president is so committed to "hold[ing] the energy of the feminine," I know Charles would never endorse anyone who wasn't so committed:
Ha Ha touche. The Once and Future President is a nice touch. I do think Trump does have a lot of feminine energy. He sounds exactly like a Valley girl in his speech patterns. Also he clearly is far more emotion driven than by intellect. "They are eating the cats and dogs" is a perfect example of his emotional reactivity even if you will empathy. My theory is he must be communicating that empathy, in his rallies to the disaffected masses who gravitate to him as a refuge. It's his emotions expressed in unfiltered words that make him such an easy target for laughter and labeling.
Well said and a good reminder. A second Trump term would be way worse because of his plans (Project 2025) to gut the civil service and replace with Trump toadies. There will be no adults in the room in a 2nd Trump term.
And by the way, the talk about election fraud and whether or not Trump will accept the elections if he doesn’t win..!??! Why aren’t we talking about the fact that it’s the Democrats that have kept independent candidates off the ballot using “law-fare”.. they have sued RFK in every state and basically crippled his campaign… now they’re suing him to not be able to to get his name off the ballots. And just yesterday Jill Stein sounded the alarm on how the Dems are trying to keep her and the Green Party off the ballots! I mean.. that alone should make you want to scream. The Democrats need to shut their face with the anti democracy rhetoric!
I do think there is a lot of work to do to "clean up our own house," or whatever the expression is, in terms of being pro-democracy but exhibiting anti-democratic behaviors. I do think there is a YUUUUUGE difference in degree, however, between this horseshit (ie Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and the Bernie Sanders stuff they pulled, with catastrophic results) and literally storming the Capitol and permitting and encouraging violence, denying the outcomes of elections, etc. If the Dems win, I intend to spend the next four years focusing on finding ways of closing the gap between what the party is supposed to be for and how it actually functions. Maybe an impossible/Sisyphean effort, but infinitely preferable to burning the whole thing down as described in this newsletter.
No doubt there are fascist, lunatics that Trump has given rise to in this country via his rhetoric. But January 6 was an absolute exaggeration and it was allowed to happen just to prove a point. It was not an attempted coup. But when the government in power controls the media, controls the press, controls how much information we are given, Controls what’s real information and what’s misinformation, controls who gets to run in an election.. How can we really be sure that they’re not gonna try to control the actual votes??
I guess this is getting into territory that I refrain from engaging with online, though I really do value such dialogues. I'm not sure that I can stretch my imagination far enough to understand 1/6 as just aiming to "prove a point." I certainly agree that we are, by definition since we cannot be everywhere all at once, downwind of a media narrative driven by its own flawed incentives. There's no doubt about that. However, whatever terms we use to describe the 6th, I find "exaggeration" a hard one to swallow. But I do not want this to descend into pointless argument that will clearly get us nowhere?
Sepideh I don't really understand why you can't simply accept that these people want to be dictators and want to imprison and kill their poliical opponents. Trump has said it and Vance has said it. That kind of crosses the line, like no way back from that, really, really, really.
I truly don't understand how you so easily accept and find believable this extreme degree of rhetoric, and yet fail to see how Trump's opponents have used government agencies and political power to convict, jail and exclude him from the ballot? If he is such a danger, do you think the national security state would not consider the assassination option? The current administration/ his opponents are safe , thanks to the Supreme Court ruling and they cannot be tried for crimes committed in office, even perhaps the elimination of Trump? We'll have to see. One last point, remember the "lock her up " chant during the 2016 election cycle? Did he while in office try to do that ?
actually it is more amazing that he is still free and doing his thing after all the felonies, graft, stealing all the classified documents and leaving them in his bathroom, sexual assaults, convictions, etc. If the Dems were as vile as you say, wouldn't Trump be rotting in prison, at this point, for some of this stuff?
January 6 certainly was an attempted coup. Perhaps botched compared to the more polished attempts we've seen in the global south, but a coup attempt nonetheless.
Perhaps in the fetid dreams of those poor dupes who marched in to the Whitehouse that day, it was an attempted coup. But a few confederates with silly hats and no clue what they were really doing was never going to fly. And then what of the undercover agents amongst them? The job was to create the illusion of danger from trump supporters and instill fear in the psyches of any American who hasn’t already lost their minds through all the shocking stuff that poses as food in your country, the constant warmongering under a grotesque banner of supporting democracy, the billionaire cartels, the utter corruption, the deliberate setting of hatred between you all. And to cap it off, whatever it is that you shit out as culture, sadly readily consumed by poisoned, mind numbed children the world over. It was deliberately set to run like an episode of the Simpsons. The hideous, tragic interface with reality was that somebody died.
The outright voter suppression done by the Republicans through purging of the voter rolls, gerrymandering based on racial demographics, etc. pales in comparison to anything the Democrats have done this side of Huey Long. See Greg Palast for examples.
The ultimate Machiavellian voter suppression, and election interference is ballot control , debate exclusion and voter choice suppression which is what the Democrats have mastered. The best way to maintain power and entitlement to power is to cull , harass, ghost ,gaslight, blacklist and propagandize about anyone who dares to run against you. In this case every independent candidate and their major competitor. This by far out does the anti-democratic activity of the Republicans who by contrast do appear to still believe in democratic processes and the constitution to some degree.
i totally disagree. I think you are utterly confused as so many are by all kinds of mind-warping propaganda. The Republicans are the ones seeking to fix the voting system - through intensive gerrymandering or watch the film I linked to. You are just totally, completely, utterly wrong.
Not propaganda, based on unguided observation of events and actions. If you think either party will not do anything to gain and maintain power, you are the one suffering from one-sided , predigested information. Yes, ofc Republicans have been gerrymandering, but the Democrats have out strategized them with their ballot control activities. I do understand the desire to believe in the good guys and bad guys, or the not so bad guys versus the really bad guys. The sad thing is how toxic all the political rhetoric has become and how this is creating so much fear, paranoia , mental breakdowns and loss of cognitive autonomy. If you believe what they want you to believe, fear what they want you to fear , hate what and who they want you to hate, then you have to wake up to the fact that you have become their property and their surrogate.
Totally agree! Also the fear mongering about whether Trump will accept defeat is I believe Machiavellian manipulation. First he has no power to do so, it’s the sitting administration that has all the power and say. It seems to me it is to be a case of preemptive accusations and external projections of what you plan to do yourself. There are so many desperate justifications that media will support for any number of ways that Trump can be prevented from taking office. For instance claims of foreign interference ( which they have already prepared us for accepting for years now and recently doubled down on) using a legal loophole ( they are still working on that ) calling Marshall law, having a military coup , or a more successful assassination attempt. Hence why the crack down on social media, fearing it would be used as a platform for civil resistance should they be “forced” to exercise their nuclear option to save the country from Trump.
what is it about Trump that you find so appealing? you like removing all environmental protections ,cutting social services, increasing the national debt, cutting taxes on the super wealthy, supporting Christian nationalism, ending abortion rights, demonizing immigrants who are just desperate and trying to survive? All those things work well for you, KG?
I don’t actually like much about Trump I just hate the hypocrisy. anti democratic, and self-righteousness behavior of the Democratic Party and mainstream media. How they have acted is unforgivable and unjustifiable. I can’t stomach how Trump has been demonized, dehumanized , propagandized
( along with his supporters) lied about and attacked for the past 6 years by the supposedly good guys. I literally am at this point unable to believe anything said about him. If he is elected it is not through his own doing, but through the outrageous, self -imploding action of those obsessed with stopping him, by any and all means. In a just world there ought to be a price paid for this. I am not worried about his conservative policies , we have had Republicans in office before who were worse.
if you "can’t stomach how Trump has been demonized, dehumanized , propagandized", then what is it you actually like about him?? Do you feel sorry for him?? empathize with him?? Do you LIKE Trump and MAGA's 'hypocrisy. anti democratic, and self-righteousness behavior", or just do not like it when it's, as you believe, coming from the Democratic Party and mainstream media...?
I just think that the precedent of this highly organized bad behavior by those who actually hold the greatest power, influence and control should not be allowed to succeed by being rewarded. Otherwise the same strategies will be used with the next guy who actually might be a real force for change. I don’t fear the stupid people I fear the highly intelligent people who have gone off the rails in a way I have never seen. Simply look at the Trump derangement syndrome that infects so many people. It is the worst form of political psychosis since World War Two.
what was the other ‘political psychosis’ since WW2 ??? you are clearly a MAGA believer. even though you will probably deny it. TDS is most seriously infecting his followers and his cult members. he can do no wrong, even to you.
I don’t feel sorry for Trump. I am outraged by the dirty anti-democratic Machiavellian methods used by the Democrats to secure power and entitlement. Trump is not the only recipient of their disgusting tactics. At this point a Trump victory, regardless of anything he does or does not do is a much needed destructive blow against the totalitarian escalation in control and influence by the national security state aka the establishment aka the military -intelligence-industrial complex aka the deep state. Trump is the biggest disrupter even it’s out of sheer stupidity to this system we are ever likely to see.
Also, the reality is this country will never be anti-corporate.. This is a capitalist country and everything is corporate. However, we need someone who can fight against the big corp’s handle on our health, our environment, our freedom both bodily freedom and freedom of speech. No one is pointing out the level of corruption that is happening like RFK.
Why would you think that the Right will do anything for public health? They plan to dismantle environmental protections and “drill baby drill.” Fossil fuel residue causes asthma and cancers etc.
When you listen to this below.. 👇🏽 does your intuition say it’s just lies? Are they just fooled? Is there no part of this that gives you a feeling of maybe if they are getting behind him and about to take office in his cabinet, things can be different?
this all just bullshit. If we want a healthy environment we have to cut fossil fuels and push renewables, and regulate polluting companies. The Republicans have done and will continue to do the exact opposite of this. I do think the Democrats should get involved in some of the issues RFK raises and look at food additives, etc. But I do not think Republicans will be good for people's health, quite the opposite. They will gut Medicare etc. But also they will simply make poor and middle class people poorer, which increases every disease factor as you become over-stressed from not making enough money, from credit card and student loan debts etc, and get sick from that and die from all of that. This is smoke and mirrors - nothing compared to the real agenda - and these people are utter frauds.
You know, Daniel, I fully agree with you on all of these subjects regarding the Republicans. In the past. Now I realize both parties are the same. If I had the choice, I’d be voting independent. If I had a choice, I would want RFK and Jill Stein on the ballot. I would ask everyone to read David Wells and discuss why our personal freedoms are just as important as our collective freedom and the right to exist on this planet… and how because we don’t trust our governments it’s impossible to agree on anything, and to recognize propaganda, and use critical thinking, and follow our intuitions, and believe in a better way, and listen to one another, and put ourselves in each other’s place in order to understand why..
I don’t know what will happen Daniel. The only reason I would ever consider supporting a man like Trump is because I have faith in the people he has surrounded himself with this time around. He has expressed regret for the people appointed to his cabinet last time around.. and by teaming with an environmental activist like RFK gives me hope.
Sepideh they want to be dictators who can imprison and even kill their political opponents with impunity, above the law. It is a nightmare and we can't let this happen here. Other issues are kind of secondary, but their whole agenda is to make life easier for the super rich and shaft everybody else. It is garbage. The Democrats are not amazing but they are much better than this. I wrote about the Inflation Reduction Act - it is actually moving us in the right direction. Trump doesn't believe in wind and solar and intends to overturn it. These people are criminals, sociopaths, cruel bastards.
“They want to be dictators who can imprison and even kill their political opponents with impunity, above the law.”
Daniel, could you please share with me something that demonstrates this.. besides an (Atlantic article from a publisher that is a huge Democratic donor)
I just listened to this JD Vance interview and although I don’t agree with a number of things.. he doesn’t Like a white supremacist dictator. He is articulate and clear, and if I was to put my own opinions aside I can at least understand where he comes with his perspective. And it’s not an easy interview..
But then again, it won’t be the first time that a politician has showed us one phase and then got into power and we had a completely different experience . Obama did a number on us all… Chris Hedges breaks down Obama and bite-size pieces for everyone to really truly understand what a disaster that presidency was.. talk about losing trust in the Dems
It is utterly fanciful to think that RFK will have any mitigating influence on rapist grifter Trump, the most corporately aligned candidate in US history.
I’m putting my trust in the people that are helping Trump pick his cabinet and will help steer him in the right direction. Mainly RFK who I have been following closely for almost a decade. I was hoping for a real independent candidate and an opportunity for our country to have a third-party.. but the Democrats took that away as well. They will never allow an independent to have a chance. RFK is everything that I would hope for in a president.. He’s not perfect, but he’s sober and my intuition says authentic and genuine. I know that he has been fighting an upward battle, But he now has a chance and a platform once given a position to make real change.
And by sober, I don’t mean clean.. I mean, he’s clear and in tune with reality. He talks about the things that matter and the things that we can actually change. He has a game plan and communicates it. He’s unafraid. He has a lot to lose here and not very much to gain. So in my opinion, no matter how you dissect him as a person.. He’s the best chance we have to change this country around.
RFK will probably be discarded like used Kleenex when no longer useful. The Trump team seeks to do away with universal health care, social services ans make the lives of the poor more miserable and short while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. How is this good policy or good for you?
Oh, I would agree that there is a lot to be said about and in favor of RFK Jr. I haven't been following him for ten years, but I have been listening to him for a while now and I think his ACTUAL stances are very different than the portrayal of them, and I have a hard time disagreeing with much of what he says (which is a passive way of saying "I agree." I guess this comes down to the reason I found my way to this newsletter: perplexity about his belief that Trump has any objectives beyond steering the country/world towards his own gain, and a lack of evidence for confidence in that regard. God willing I am wrong and that, should the unthinkable (in my view) take place and Trump legitimately wins, RFK is actually able to do as he wishes: clean up food, soil, move us towards real healthcare rather than illness management, etc. But for me, that feels more like (to use a relevant but imperfect metaphor) dousing a garden in roundup to save some kale from infestation.
absurd. Their whole plan is to gut the EPA, end regulations on polluting companies, and massively increase oil and fossil fuel mining which is devastating for the environment and human health. This is just some window dressing to fool a small percentage of the people.
I agree. I hope that's clear. I am just trying to address the belief directly, as I think it's actually quite a lot of people who believe that RFK will get in there and create meaningful change within that administration, which I do not at all see happening. I believe that voting for T b/c of the people who he "promises" to surround himself with (there is no human being alive whose promises are worth less) is like burning the house down to start a fire in the fireplace.
Do you think Trump is interested in creating the conditions for a healthier, more self-actualized society to flourish? Forgetting all of the details, there is absolutely nothing about the world as he sees it (full of enemies) that attracts me, even at the most basic, energetic level. I am not naive — I do understand that there is a "cost of attack/benefit of attack" dynamic that has been at play since the beginning of time (as Jason Lowery frames it), and that is an important facet of human life that is not to be overlooked, spiritually bypassed, or naively (and dangerously) demonized. I was in the room with Trump at the Bitcoin conference, and I felt like I saw him for what he really was: an entertainer (more skillful, in a way, than I would have thought), a man with no real convictions outside of whatever serves his PERSONAL purposes in the moment. This is not a new observation, but I honestly have not gotten any impression that the man gives a shit about anything, but he is very willing to eagerly destroy a lot of things that people give a lot of shits about.
I think the main thing that worries me is the total consolidation of control and eradication of the mechanisms of dissent and punishment of dissenters (which is very different than cultural cancellation/policing and the constricting of ideas in the public sphere, which I wholly agree has gotten way out of control). Obviously the abortion issue, which he's distancing himself from. I think we've seen the direction of that trajectory in states that are criminalizing abortion, etc, and it's almost too horrific to wrap my head around. There's the eradication of agencies like the EPA, which is what makes it so hard for me to understand RFK. I understand the narrative around "green energy being a pathway to totalitarian control," but I do not agree with it. I do not think that the absence of regulations leads to a healthy outcome. Like my favorite example of regulating the airline industry: I, for one, do not want to get on a plane whose safety has been verified by the very people invested in getting it up and running. I think that there is a tension between too much regulation and not enough regulation, and I think that Trump wants to bring a mallet (or machine gun) to issues that require surgical precision. That's just a smattering!
I know some other Trump supporters who have told me that I'm being alarmist, and that I have nothing to worry about, and don't I care about my taxes going up, and transwomen in women's sports. and woke horribleness. But I'm with Daniel on this one. I sincerely hope I am wrong, and next year you get to tell people like me "I told you so," but I am not counting on that.
I really appreciate your vigilance and eloquence underscoring the unambiguous threat we face in the prospect of a Trump-Vance victory or coup. To top it off, you share a Lorca poem, which ought to inspire good republicans (small r) across the land to resist tyranny and vote for Harris-Walz -- not because they're ideal, but because they would enable us, at the very least, to live another day. Your post of today is very romantic and heart warming. I thank you for it.
Everything that Vance and Roberts say and seem to believe is actually a projection of their party-why isn't this obvious?
It's the oldest trick in the book of psychology.
This part, for ex-if you substitute Republicans for Unhumans-totally works!
By becoming consumed by nihilism, unhumans oppose everything that makes up humanity. As they are opposed to humanity itself, they place themselves outside of the category completely, in an entirely new misery-driven subdivision, the unhuman. They specifically reject the human rights of others. So if and when they get their way, they will unhuman you, too. They convert, and that which they cannot convert, they destroy.
I share your concern, Daniel. Americans pride themselves on being practical and street smart, often in contrast to those who they characterize as the oh-so effete Europeans and the benighted, desperate masses from other countries. With the ascendance of Donald and in the Tucker Carlson example I cite below, we see that the reality is the opposite: So many Americans are credulous rubes and the fatal flaw in 21st century Americans is *the inability to spot a performing bullshit artist.*
Tucker Carlson has the number two podcast in the United States. A few weeks ago he had a 3 1/2 hour interview with a "historian" who is a Holocaust denialist. The guest ambiguously recognized mass killings of Jewish civilians by Germany in World War II, but argued it was mainly due to poor planning of how to take care of of prisoners of war, bureaucratic missteps and the fog of war - contrary to the voluminous, meticulous evidence and witness testimony. Tucker's popularity as he airs such insidious trash is an indication that we are in very deep shit in this country. Many Americans' thinking is so compromised and desperate that they are unable to identify Tucker Carlson as a relentless and ruthless bullshit artist and they are unable to identify his guest as an obvious charlatan and a glib fascist.
You my friend are pointing to something the majority can not see. The Majority of us aren't fully Conscious, this is that moment in time when at least 20 million Conscious fully realized human beings rise up and create the collective weave been weaving fore. Those 40 million can bring about a new way of weaving our cultural political and economical Spheres into a new way of thinking and being that serve us in ways which brings the kind of Peace we all can Imagine...
DP let's head in this direction U is the New Is Real
There's a great quote in the tv show Rome where Cato says we must preserve the republic and is told "the people aren't clamoring for the republic. They are clamoring for break, work, order."
Pieces like this miss the central issues in America at the moment. Even if Harris wins the election, well face the exact same issue in 2028 because the problems compelling tens of millions of Americans to ally themselves with Trumpism are not on the ballot. If Harris wins they'll be there in 2028 too. So now every single year is going to be a "critical year for democracy" and if every election is an existential threat to the very existence of America the republic cannot survive.
Personally I think the optimal outcome is one side wins the executive and the other wins the legislative. A deadlock will prevent either from going nuts, hopefully buying enough time for the Public to open their eyes
Great article Daniel. Yes, it's sad that we have only 2 real choices here in the US, the corporate Dems or the now outright fascist Repubs, but it's important to see reality clearly as you emphasize.
The way I see it, if the Democrats prevail the chances of forcing positive change through an engaged segment of the citizenry persists, whereas if the Trumpist Republicans prevail such possibilities will be cut off. Not to say that it will be easy even if Harris / Walz win, but at least the chances for socio-economic progress is retained. Under Trump we'll get neo-fascism as described in Project 2025, informed by Christian Nationalists and Opus Dei.
It's odd, isn't it? Even just browsing this comment section. Makes you wonder what the subjective experience of some people is like. It's the elephant in the room. What is it like to have a subjectivity with no veridical value? I heard Bret weinstein reflecting on how AI has revealed that humans are just LLMs. I think in the sense that we operate by probabilistic word association. It seems like some people are just caught in symbolic webs, just pure word association with no correlation to the world. As a lifelong reader and thinker it seems to me the real value of immersing yourself in words is to dissolve their meaning, so you can navigate outside of the word association game that is the cultural default. I dunno, it's a disturbing argument if human psychology/mentation.
Yeah, maybe. But at the same time, my gut tells me all that I need to know when danger is afoot. Also, many of us have done the necessary research (with or without the help of AI). My fear is based on lived experience, research and interviews and travel to the source. For example, in order to understand the immigration issue, I had jumped at an opportunity to spend a couple of months at the US/Mexico border on a government mission to assist with the CBP. I got a very complete picture of what is happening there. Many of us here in the comments section are thoughtful people who carefully consider our words. To reduce us to automatons, as Brett is suggesting, is not only insulting but it complete negates the possibility that maybe, just maybe some of us really thought through our position and don't take the process of doing so lightly, casually, or automatically.
Why is there no movement to change the voting system. Since we changed in New Zealand from ‘first past the post’ similar to Canada where a minority could win, to MMP, based on the German system, we have only had coalition governments. Including a strong indigenous “Māori” party and a strong Green Party
I’m glad you bring up the Issue of intelligence vis a vis Vance’s potential to do harm. The nature of fascism and “evil” has been a leitmotif question for me. I was born in Austria a few months before WWII ended. The swastika on my birth certificate is like a mission statement: do everything in your power to be a stand for what Steiner calls “ethical individualism”. I have learned that the leading perpetrators of the Nazi war crimes had genius-level IQs!! https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-nazi-and-the-psychiatrist/.
As a Jew, I have shared that high anxiety.... at times, even panic...considering a MAGA (Brownshirts) victory. I am doing all I can to prevent that. So many people, especially the Left, keep going down that sorry road: "It's all about corporate greed. Vote for Stein/ West or no one at all." THIS IS NOT A NORMAL ELECTION. I ask my friends to give a little bit more to her campaign, to stick out their necks more on social media, send postcards, put up yard signs etc. And, of course, to work on the level of Spirit where the changes are designed...
You could spend an eternity in hell arguing about the ways in which both parties lead to the death of the world as we know it. The duopoly of the system needs to be broken. We are fucked either way with the result of the current election. I could not vote for either option. Hope lies in something completely different.
I get all of that, but at least in the short term we are less totally fucked if Harris wins, so I strongly recommend reconsidering and voting for her, particularly if you are in a swing state.
What impact do you think the forever war schedule of the Democrats has on the climate? Do you think war impacts climate change? Do you think cloud seeding affects climate change? What about de-forestation? What about the incessant use of concrete increasing impermeable surfaces? Are the democrats going to do shit about all that? I really do believe that the fucked uppedness is equal in both parties and this election is a write-off. It’s the emergence of a third alternative that is the only action - to have a plan over the next four years. What options are there for that? How do you have that conversation and mobilise that? What of independents who are already in the arena but who just don’t get a look in because the system itself is corrupt and can remove their names from ballots? Why is no one trying to stop that kind of carry on? Sorry for all the questions.
Yes, I recommend Dr. Bandy Lee on Trump Contagion ( a rampant virus in my opinion) , Pam Gregory astrologer for messages in the sky and clarity on the understanding that the projection is real --they ''spot it' because they've got it. I hope we stay focused on our sanity and take care of each other.
I think the problem is, as indicated in the comments above, ordinary people are being incited to fear a totalitarian regime, whether it’s a left or right regime. While I do not think the above portrait is accurate (the comment with which you heartily disagree), a left that is completely blind to its own excesses leaves room for those other voices to fill the void. I have not fact-checked Nellie Bowles’ portrait of CHAZ, for example (I do not have the wherewithal), but I do think I render mysejf vulnerable for even bringing it up, or even bringing her up. Which is a problem. This is terrifying because of everything you wrote in your column: I feel like we are caught between a rock snd a hard place, pivoting to the center without saying why which leaves people suspicious of the real agenda. But saying why would make us appear weak, which you can’t have in politics. I am actively supporting the democrats in the #1 toss up house district in Colorado (deep canvassing) bc I think the aspirations of the left are towards the good, even if we have a LOT of work to do in the empathy department as it extends to people outside of the left’s zone of care (ie people who see the world differently). I think the aspirations of the right are toward the unabashed self-enriching, at the expense of everything in the commons, ie nature.
To me, the left seems to have actively created a vacuum that pathological people like Vance have stepped in to fill. We need to win this fucking thing and really self-examine why and how we let that happen.
I don't understand what you mean by this? " I do think I render mysejf vulnerable for even bringing it up, or even bringing her up." Bring up whoever you want, please! I didn't really know about her... I just read the NYer review of her book. I think one problem is that many Western intellectual / artistic type people are naturally rebels who seek to identify from whatever they think is orthodoxy... This is how you had Leftists like Jerry Rubin or David Horowitz become Right Wing Reaganites... There is also the question of energy and attention that drives people. If I was pushing the RFK to Trump, CO2 doesn't equal warming narrative I would have gotten more attention too. Some people need to be at the center of attention even at the cost of their principles.
I don't think "the left" "created a vacuum". I think any serious Left was targeted and destroyed decades ago, as I explored in other essays. Not allowing the US to have a legitimate Left was a long-term mistake of the US security complex, which was paranoiac and over-reached in many instances, as with the overthrow of Iran in 1952 or the overthrow of Allende in the 70s. The US should have allowed for experiments in different degrees of socialism and socialization instead of seeing that as a direct threat. The problem is -- as we now see clearly -- there are a lot of descendants of the American pioneers who fought the Native peoples and owned slaves or benefited from slavery, and who are, deep down, white Christian nationalists. These people are still living in the last century. Because of the Electoral College, they have become a major threat.
Hmm what I meant by that Nellie Bowles comment is that, in my experience, questioning the left's (excesses? missteps? whatever you want to call them) has become akin to being on the right. I was thinking not so much about the response here, within your community, but in general. I am certainly no historian; I will look for your other essays about the annihilation of the left, which is undoubtedly a major factor in the left's hobbling, but am I wrong in understanding that the primary purpose of the Iranian coup was not about containing communism but rather about the nationalization of oil? Is that some incomplete/slanted narrative? Genuine question.
In terms of white Christian nationalism, yeah. But I think they are just the most potent force in a broader coalition of people (like RFK followers) who I think are much more diverse, not necessarily Christian nationalist, who believe that the government is the whole problem. If they have to be aligned with people like that in order to stop the government from meddling in/taking over our lives, then I think they're like "so be it." That's my impression from being in spaces like that.
And by the "vacuum" comment, I am thinking that it's more of an "all of the above" situation. I agree with Ian below that Citizens United has absolutely changed the nature of campaigns and elections (obviously - not even something to possibly disagree with!). I also, anecdotally, have seen plenty of apathy. I VIVIDLY remember 2010, when people just sat out the midterms because I guess voting is super hard. I know retired people who have literally nothing to do but still work harder at getting out of jury duty than almost anything else. This is what I mean by apathy: anecdotal apathy, apathy I've observed among my peers. People who might put up a yard sign but don't want to knock doors or make phone calls because it's uncomfortable, even now. Throughout my entire childhood, I didn't know ONE politically active person (as far as I knew), and I lived in Potomac, Maryland (surburban DC). That's the apathy I'm talking about. That's the negligence that I believe helped to get us here. Everyone was very content with their pool parties and dinners at The Palm.
(I hope it's abundantly obvious that by "everyone" I am speaking of people in those kinds of communities, people who could have been working towards preserving and expanding but instead were just enjoying their private lives. I am NOT speaking of or ignoring the incredible, ongoing, tireless work of many many others. My criticism is aimed at a very specific demographic at whom I am hurling the accusation of apathy.)
The problem seems clear. Citizens United opened the door to massive capital controlling elections, the far right created a cult to control most working class voters, so Dems needed to go to the oligarchy for campaign money.
Our own apathy lead us here. If we want change in the party, we need to make it. Vote young progressive candidates that will support ranked choice voting and voter lead district maps so that we can threaten the establishment politicians.
Change starts with a good foundation. It doesn’t start at the top and change the entire system over night. The fact that people expect that to happen and refuse to participate if we can’t accomplish it is the problem. If we didn’t have that, these fascists wouldn’t be the threat that they are.
Have you noticed no one talks about campaign reform or citizens united anymore? The absurdity of it is political office is about buying votes. The presidential campaigns will spend at least a billion dollars to win office this year. If we are ever to get independent candidates , non donor dependent public servants then this must be changed. This is precisely why everyone can no longer tolerate the stench of political corruption imo .
Indeed, we should have public funded campaigns on official platforms. We should also make it a civic requirement to vote. Many do not because they say they are uninformed, but if they had to, then they could get informed. Such a lame excuse, really, when there are so many resources available.
How do you think this vacuum was created? I tend to think it has been due to the severe betrayal and disgust for the working class by the managerial class, who once championed their rights and cause. Now the managerial class thinks they have too much freedom , too many dangerous beliefs etc. The continual ignoring, dismissing and ghosting of working class and their biggest concerns has resulted in a populist uprising that cannot now be stopped by pulling rank intellectually , moralizing , or talking down to the "deplorables". Essentially the Democratic Party has become a full fledged servant of the 1% while pretending to be what they once aspired to be. DJT is further to the left than they are, which is why so many long term Democrats and liberals are jumping ship.
absolutely. Freddie DeBoer just wrote about that Chuck Schumer quote yesterday:
"I am increasingly convinced that Chuck Schumer’s notorious comment before the 2016 election is a Rosetta Stone for the 21st century Democratic party. Schumer said, “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.” Whoops! That didn’t happen. The states most associated with deindustrialization - Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin - went for Trump. That was a bad decision on the parts of those voters, but I understand even while I don’t approve; when the National Honors Society members that ran Obama’s administration governed with total indifference for the suffering happening in these states, they guaranteed a backlash, and it’s our bad luck that that backlash came in the form of Donald Trump. It doesn’t matter if the choice to vote for Trump was a good or bad decision. It was a consequence of the supposedly progressive party forgetting the most central and sacred duty of progressivism: to make sure no one is left behind."
https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/they-still-wont-say-that-theyre-sorry
I don't think this is the only thing, and I'm no social scientist, but my anecdotal personal observations throughout my post-adolescence is that comfortable people forget, very quickly, what it's like to be uncomfortable. They congratulate themselves a lot, and focus on the next thing in front of them - vacation, whatever - rather than digging deep and trying to understand society in general. That's not to say they don't do great work: many people I've grown up with are very active in the community, philanthropic, super generous wtih time and money towards those less fortunate. But the curiosity to understand root problems isn't there. Maybe people just aren't that intelligent, in the real sense of the word. They don't have higher intelligence nor the drive to pursue deeper inquiry: they just want to succeed and thrive, and lay out a path for their children to do the same. I kind of get it, but I have always seen it as a very "halfway" way to live, even among the very, very successful (I have lived in very privileged communities).
I agree about the democrats as managerial class ignoring the working class which created the vacuum. I don’t believe Trump is more to the left or will actually help them. Cutting taxes on the wealth and cutting social services, etc. But yes the ruining of the working class is the big underlying issue and the Dems and liberal technocrats were totally tone deaf to this. For instance promoting self driving trucks without thinking of the impacts on 3 million truck drivers.
That's a really great and insightful piece by Freddie DeBoer, thanks for linking it.
It's a healthy antidote - because of how clear, articulate and straightforward the argument, and how much he respects the intelligence of his readers - to the narcissistic New Age blather of a Charles Eisenstein, which is lost in cloudy abstraction and endless pseudo-intellectual pomposity.
This quote was especially apt; “ It’s remarkable. The amount of human devastation in the deindustrialized spaces in the United States has been unthinkable. Entire communities where the most common source of personal income is disability payments, fentanyl addiction rates in the double digits, 60+% unemployment rates among workers aged 18-25, collapsing municipal services, a doom loop of people fleeing all of that destruction which in turn devastates the tax base even more”
I want to point out these include the much gaslighted , maligned and shamed residents of Springfield Ohio. The one’s whose real condition is reduced
to the absurdity of having their pets eaten. This is an affront that I suspect will not go unnoticed at election time , there and throughout the rust belt .
Oh I'm so glad! He really is a special writer; if you had not come across his work before, you're in for a treat. He's a really unique person — and I agree, the contrast between him and someone like Charles kind of helps round out the entire picture of what we're seeing (I guess that's kind of an important point in general: it's hard to see anything (ideas, an x-ray, lierally every object in the world) without contrast). I would trust Freddie over Charles or Russell any day.
Sometimes I wonder how many comments, like some of the brainwashed ones here, are not actually real people. Bots? Russian tools? Basic trolls? Trumps openly states what he'll do, and it would end democracy. It's not rocket science.
Agreed, except the person called “Sepideh Kashanisn” posting on here which is genuinely brain damaged drivel. Otherwise, Russian bots in large numbers
Paranoia will destroy you. Do you see what you just did? You bought into a strategically placed, media sanctioned and highly propagated conspiracy theory meme. This fear mongering is most likely is in service to the military-intelligence -complex, Cold War , American empire and electoral control agendas. This is right out of the red scare McCarthy era. It quite possibly provides cover and excuses for covert operations and the undermining of political dissent. Laws are being crafted to punish speech / government criticisms that in anyway similar to anything from a foreign government even though there is no connection between those parties. A example used is that theoretically even a little old lady in Switzerland that donates money to an orphanage linked to a terrorist organization ( say Hamas) could be jailed as a terrorist or terrorist accomplice. You might listen to Julian Assange's recent testimony on this.
I’m a lifelong liberal and have voted Democrat and Independent for the 30 years that Ive been able to vote. I left the US disgusted after Bush jr was elected. Came back to an Obama presidency with glee. I cried in horror when Trump got elected the first time. But I started to see who the Dems really are when Bernie was running in 2018. I started following politics very closely at that point. I had an awakening during Covid to the level of corruption happening .. and the corporations and organizations that run this country. The democrats are the republicans of the 80s-90s.. they are the neocons, they are anti democracy, freedom of speech.. in my opinion they are the fascists.
Ive been watching you confused by the dems that are moving to back Trump.. I’m sorry that it just hasn’t clicked for you. I agree with you on many points and observations, but you’re not looking big picture and what’s at stake if we let this giant censorship, war, pharmaceutical machine take hold.
Conveniently, in the case of Donald Trump we have his four-year record as president to judge his policy approach, his competence, the wisdom of his selection of a cabinet and support team, his truthfulness or lack thereof, his attitude toward the Constitution, and his larger belief system and the way in which it plays out in governance.
Policy-wise, upon entering office he instituted a ban on all Muslims entering the country; he attempted to build a wall along the US Mexico border and failed, though the environmental effects of the attempt have been devastating for the region; he reinstituted the crippling sanctions against Cuba and regressed our diplomacy with the country; he tore up the agreement by which Iran agreed not to develop its nuclear arsenal; he insanely and provocatively recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy there; he appointed Rex Tillerson, environmentally nihilist former CEO of Exxon, as his Secretary of State; he appointed Steve Bannon to his administration and others who adhere to the philosophy of " the destruction of the administrative state," by which they mean all government oversight over the corporate destruction of the biosphere and our health and wellness should be removed and corporations should be given libertarian free reign to masticate what remains of our health and life on earth; his refusal to even recognize the reality of climate chaos is either indication of a terrifying ignorance or a deadly cynicism; Donald escalated xenophobic, racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric to a terrifying level, verbally and explicitly empowering white power thug gangs like the proud boys and provoking a spike in hate crimes across the country; Donald screwed the pooch so catastrophically with the COVID pandemic that one million Americans ended up dead - this was primarily due to the fact that he dragged his feet recognizing and engaging with the crisis publicly because he feared how doing so might affect his reelection chances; upon losing the election in 2020, he pretended publicly to believe that he won & he engaged in multiple actions to attempt to overturn the results of the election; Donald's most significant legislative accomplishment was passing a massive tax cut for the ultrarich; Donald has been very candid in his authoritarian rhetoric and in his admiration for his fellow authoritarians in power throughout the world. So, when it comes to voting for Donald Trump, we are fortunate to have a robust public record of both his governance and his shockingly toxic rhetoric disparaging and threatening all who do not share his sexist, libertarian capitalist and bigoted disposition.
It almost seems you don’t like him
On the bright side, at least Trump will surely help Charles Eisenstein in his program for the Healing of the Masculine and his noble attempts to combat Misogyny:
https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/misogyny-and-the-healing-of-the-masculine/#:~:text=Charles%20proposes%20that%20a%20process%20of%20Truth%20and%20Reconciliation
"My new home of West Asheville is in the news. A local coffee shop, Waking Life Espresso, closed its doors after its owners Jared Rutledge and Jacob Owens were outed for hosting a misogynistic blog. In addition to repulsive and degrading comments about women and details of their supposed sexual exploits, they boasted of one or two incidents that may have crossed the line into rape."
With sensitive, heartfelt, ardent feminist Donald Trump at the helm, there can be no doubt that Charles' online course Masculinity: A New Story will soon be making its way into schools all over America:
https://charleseisenstein.org/courses/masculinity-a-new-story/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMasculinity:%20A%20New%20Story%E2%80%9D%20is%20a%20learning%20journey%20that
"When I was young, I saw plenty of examples of a masculinity that was dominating and violent, that was cut off from emotions, that was afraid to cry and afraid to be seen, that was deeply insecure, that couldn’t really hear, see, and hold the energy of the feminine, that wasn’t in service to life. I didn’t want to be like that. Moving away from that model of masculinity, what is there to move into?"
I can't wait for President DBD ("Drill Baby Drill") to effusively endorse Session Six of Charles' wonderful course: From Mother Earth to Lover Earth:
https://charleseisenstein.org/courses/masculinity-a-new-story/session-six-from-mother-earth-to-lover-earth/#:~:text=Masculinity:%20A%20New%20Story.%20The%20old%20patriarchal%20conception%20of
Fortunately we have ample testimony to Trump's sensitivity and compassion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGpVreCqNLo
Charles couldn't have a stronger ally in his quest to promote a new vision of "tonic" masculinity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EPEkk6qWkg
I'm so glad the once and future president is so committed to "hold[ing] the energy of the feminine," I know Charles would never endorse anyone who wasn't so committed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFpkvAePP7M
Ha Ha touche. The Once and Future President is a nice touch. I do think Trump does have a lot of feminine energy. He sounds exactly like a Valley girl in his speech patterns. Also he clearly is far more emotion driven than by intellect. "They are eating the cats and dogs" is a perfect example of his emotional reactivity even if you will empathy. My theory is he must be communicating that empathy, in his rallies to the disaffected masses who gravitate to him as a refuge. It's his emotions expressed in unfiltered words that make him such an easy target for laughter and labeling.
Good points here
Best response possible to my comment - had me laughing! I should have included as my last line, "Other than that, he is a wonderful humanitarian."
Well said and a good reminder. A second Trump term would be way worse because of his plans (Project 2025) to gut the civil service and replace with Trump toadies. There will be no adults in the room in a 2nd Trump term.
And by the way, the talk about election fraud and whether or not Trump will accept the elections if he doesn’t win..!??! Why aren’t we talking about the fact that it’s the Democrats that have kept independent candidates off the ballot using “law-fare”.. they have sued RFK in every state and basically crippled his campaign… now they’re suing him to not be able to to get his name off the ballots. And just yesterday Jill Stein sounded the alarm on how the Dems are trying to keep her and the Green Party off the ballots! I mean.. that alone should make you want to scream. The Democrats need to shut their face with the anti democracy rhetoric!
I do think there is a lot of work to do to "clean up our own house," or whatever the expression is, in terms of being pro-democracy but exhibiting anti-democratic behaviors. I do think there is a YUUUUUGE difference in degree, however, between this horseshit (ie Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and the Bernie Sanders stuff they pulled, with catastrophic results) and literally storming the Capitol and permitting and encouraging violence, denying the outcomes of elections, etc. If the Dems win, I intend to spend the next four years focusing on finding ways of closing the gap between what the party is supposed to be for and how it actually functions. Maybe an impossible/Sisyphean effort, but infinitely preferable to burning the whole thing down as described in this newsletter.
No doubt there are fascist, lunatics that Trump has given rise to in this country via his rhetoric. But January 6 was an absolute exaggeration and it was allowed to happen just to prove a point. It was not an attempted coup. But when the government in power controls the media, controls the press, controls how much information we are given, Controls what’s real information and what’s misinformation, controls who gets to run in an election.. How can we really be sure that they’re not gonna try to control the actual votes??
I guess this is getting into territory that I refrain from engaging with online, though I really do value such dialogues. I'm not sure that I can stretch my imagination far enough to understand 1/6 as just aiming to "prove a point." I certainly agree that we are, by definition since we cannot be everywhere all at once, downwind of a media narrative driven by its own flawed incentives. There's no doubt about that. However, whatever terms we use to describe the 6th, I find "exaggeration" a hard one to swallow. But I do not want this to descend into pointless argument that will clearly get us nowhere?
Sepideh I don't really understand why you can't simply accept that these people want to be dictators and want to imprison and kill their poliical opponents. Trump has said it and Vance has said it. That kind of crosses the line, like no way back from that, really, really, really.
I truly don't understand how you so easily accept and find believable this extreme degree of rhetoric, and yet fail to see how Trump's opponents have used government agencies and political power to convict, jail and exclude him from the ballot? If he is such a danger, do you think the national security state would not consider the assassination option? The current administration/ his opponents are safe , thanks to the Supreme Court ruling and they cannot be tried for crimes committed in office, even perhaps the elimination of Trump? We'll have to see. One last point, remember the "lock her up " chant during the 2016 election cycle? Did he while in office try to do that ?
actually it is more amazing that he is still free and doing his thing after all the felonies, graft, stealing all the classified documents and leaving them in his bathroom, sexual assaults, convictions, etc. If the Dems were as vile as you say, wouldn't Trump be rotting in prison, at this point, for some of this stuff?
January 6 certainly was an attempted coup. Perhaps botched compared to the more polished attempts we've seen in the global south, but a coup attempt nonetheless.
Perhaps in the fetid dreams of those poor dupes who marched in to the Whitehouse that day, it was an attempted coup. But a few confederates with silly hats and no clue what they were really doing was never going to fly. And then what of the undercover agents amongst them? The job was to create the illusion of danger from trump supporters and instill fear in the psyches of any American who hasn’t already lost their minds through all the shocking stuff that poses as food in your country, the constant warmongering under a grotesque banner of supporting democracy, the billionaire cartels, the utter corruption, the deliberate setting of hatred between you all. And to cap it off, whatever it is that you shit out as culture, sadly readily consumed by poisoned, mind numbed children the world over. It was deliberately set to run like an episode of the Simpsons. The hideous, tragic interface with reality was that somebody died.
The outright voter suppression done by the Republicans through purging of the voter rolls, gerrymandering based on racial demographics, etc. pales in comparison to anything the Democrats have done this side of Huey Long. See Greg Palast for examples.
The ultimate Machiavellian voter suppression, and election interference is ballot control , debate exclusion and voter choice suppression which is what the Democrats have mastered. The best way to maintain power and entitlement to power is to cull , harass, ghost ,gaslight, blacklist and propagandize about anyone who dares to run against you. In this case every independent candidate and their major competitor. This by far out does the anti-democratic activity of the Republicans who by contrast do appear to still believe in democratic processes and the constitution to some degree.
i totally disagree. I think you are utterly confused as so many are by all kinds of mind-warping propaganda. The Republicans are the ones seeking to fix the voting system - through intensive gerrymandering or watch the film I linked to. You are just totally, completely, utterly wrong.
Not propaganda, based on unguided observation of events and actions. If you think either party will not do anything to gain and maintain power, you are the one suffering from one-sided , predigested information. Yes, ofc Republicans have been gerrymandering, but the Democrats have out strategized them with their ballot control activities. I do understand the desire to believe in the good guys and bad guys, or the not so bad guys versus the really bad guys. The sad thing is how toxic all the political rhetoric has become and how this is creating so much fear, paranoia , mental breakdowns and loss of cognitive autonomy. If you believe what they want you to believe, fear what they want you to fear , hate what and who they want you to hate, then you have to wake up to the fact that you have become their property and their surrogate.
Totally agree! Also the fear mongering about whether Trump will accept defeat is I believe Machiavellian manipulation. First he has no power to do so, it’s the sitting administration that has all the power and say. It seems to me it is to be a case of preemptive accusations and external projections of what you plan to do yourself. There are so many desperate justifications that media will support for any number of ways that Trump can be prevented from taking office. For instance claims of foreign interference ( which they have already prepared us for accepting for years now and recently doubled down on) using a legal loophole ( they are still working on that ) calling Marshall law, having a military coup , or a more successful assassination attempt. Hence why the crack down on social media, fearing it would be used as a platform for civil resistance should they be “forced” to exercise their nuclear option to save the country from Trump.
what is it about Trump that you find so appealing? you like removing all environmental protections ,cutting social services, increasing the national debt, cutting taxes on the super wealthy, supporting Christian nationalism, ending abortion rights, demonizing immigrants who are just desperate and trying to survive? All those things work well for you, KG?
I don’t actually like much about Trump I just hate the hypocrisy. anti democratic, and self-righteousness behavior of the Democratic Party and mainstream media. How they have acted is unforgivable and unjustifiable. I can’t stomach how Trump has been demonized, dehumanized , propagandized
( along with his supporters) lied about and attacked for the past 6 years by the supposedly good guys. I literally am at this point unable to believe anything said about him. If he is elected it is not through his own doing, but through the outrageous, self -imploding action of those obsessed with stopping him, by any and all means. In a just world there ought to be a price paid for this. I am not worried about his conservative policies , we have had Republicans in office before who were worse.
if you "can’t stomach how Trump has been demonized, dehumanized , propagandized", then what is it you actually like about him?? Do you feel sorry for him?? empathize with him?? Do you LIKE Trump and MAGA's 'hypocrisy. anti democratic, and self-righteousness behavior", or just do not like it when it's, as you believe, coming from the Democratic Party and mainstream media...?
I just think that the precedent of this highly organized bad behavior by those who actually hold the greatest power, influence and control should not be allowed to succeed by being rewarded. Otherwise the same strategies will be used with the next guy who actually might be a real force for change. I don’t fear the stupid people I fear the highly intelligent people who have gone off the rails in a way I have never seen. Simply look at the Trump derangement syndrome that infects so many people. It is the worst form of political psychosis since World War Two.
what was the other ‘political psychosis’ since WW2 ??? you are clearly a MAGA believer. even though you will probably deny it. TDS is most seriously infecting his followers and his cult members. he can do no wrong, even to you.
I don’t feel sorry for Trump. I am outraged by the dirty anti-democratic Machiavellian methods used by the Democrats to secure power and entitlement. Trump is not the only recipient of their disgusting tactics. At this point a Trump victory, regardless of anything he does or does not do is a much needed destructive blow against the totalitarian escalation in control and influence by the national security state aka the establishment aka the military -intelligence-industrial complex aka the deep state. Trump is the biggest disrupter even it’s out of sheer stupidity to this system we are ever likely to see.
I understand much of where you’re coming from, but might you elaborate on how you view a Trump presidency as anti-corporate?
Also, the reality is this country will never be anti-corporate.. This is a capitalist country and everything is corporate. However, we need someone who can fight against the big corp’s handle on our health, our environment, our freedom both bodily freedom and freedom of speech. No one is pointing out the level of corruption that is happening like RFK.
Why would you think that the Right will do anything for public health? They plan to dismantle environmental protections and “drill baby drill.” Fossil fuel residue causes asthma and cancers etc.
When you listen to this below.. 👇🏽 does your intuition say it’s just lies? Are they just fooled? Is there no part of this that gives you a feeling of maybe if they are getting behind him and about to take office in his cabinet, things can be different?
https://youtu.be/HhZOo2GQz_4?si=sMMbySrjpiQ5af43
this all just bullshit. If we want a healthy environment we have to cut fossil fuels and push renewables, and regulate polluting companies. The Republicans have done and will continue to do the exact opposite of this. I do think the Democrats should get involved in some of the issues RFK raises and look at food additives, etc. But I do not think Republicans will be good for people's health, quite the opposite. They will gut Medicare etc. But also they will simply make poor and middle class people poorer, which increases every disease factor as you become over-stressed from not making enough money, from credit card and student loan debts etc, and get sick from that and die from all of that. This is smoke and mirrors - nothing compared to the real agenda - and these people are utter frauds.
You know, Daniel, I fully agree with you on all of these subjects regarding the Republicans. In the past. Now I realize both parties are the same. If I had the choice, I’d be voting independent. If I had a choice, I would want RFK and Jill Stein on the ballot. I would ask everyone to read David Wells and discuss why our personal freedoms are just as important as our collective freedom and the right to exist on this planet… and how because we don’t trust our governments it’s impossible to agree on anything, and to recognize propaganda, and use critical thinking, and follow our intuitions, and believe in a better way, and listen to one another, and put ourselves in each other’s place in order to understand why..
I don’t know what will happen Daniel. The only reason I would ever consider supporting a man like Trump is because I have faith in the people he has surrounded himself with this time around. He has expressed regret for the people appointed to his cabinet last time around.. and by teaming with an environmental activist like RFK gives me hope.
Sepideh they want to be dictators who can imprison and even kill their political opponents with impunity, above the law. It is a nightmare and we can't let this happen here. Other issues are kind of secondary, but their whole agenda is to make life easier for the super rich and shaft everybody else. It is garbage. The Democrats are not amazing but they are much better than this. I wrote about the Inflation Reduction Act - it is actually moving us in the right direction. Trump doesn't believe in wind and solar and intends to overturn it. These people are criminals, sociopaths, cruel bastards.
“They want to be dictators who can imprison and even kill their political opponents with impunity, above the law.”
Daniel, could you please share with me something that demonstrates this.. besides an (Atlantic article from a publisher that is a huge Democratic donor)
I just listened to this JD Vance interview and although I don’t agree with a number of things.. he doesn’t Like a white supremacist dictator. He is articulate and clear, and if I was to put my own opinions aside I can at least understand where he comes with his perspective. And it’s not an easy interview..
https://youtu.be/LngsF2T8Ci0?si=Dhb9D5lDqWA5g92y
But then again, it won’t be the first time that a politician has showed us one phase and then got into power and we had a completely different experience . Obama did a number on us all… Chris Hedges breaks down Obama and bite-size pieces for everyone to really truly understand what a disaster that presidency was.. talk about losing trust in the Dems
Maybe it’s a pipe dream. But I have reached the place of burn it all down to the ground. Something needs to give.
It is utterly fanciful to think that RFK will have any mitigating influence on rapist grifter Trump, the most corporately aligned candidate in US history.
I’m putting my trust in the people that are helping Trump pick his cabinet and will help steer him in the right direction. Mainly RFK who I have been following closely for almost a decade. I was hoping for a real independent candidate and an opportunity for our country to have a third-party.. but the Democrats took that away as well. They will never allow an independent to have a chance. RFK is everything that I would hope for in a president.. He’s not perfect, but he’s sober and my intuition says authentic and genuine. I know that he has been fighting an upward battle, But he now has a chance and a platform once given a position to make real change.
And by sober, I don’t mean clean.. I mean, he’s clear and in tune with reality. He talks about the things that matter and the things that we can actually change. He has a game plan and communicates it. He’s unafraid. He has a lot to lose here and not very much to gain. So in my opinion, no matter how you dissect him as a person.. He’s the best chance we have to change this country around.
RFK will probably be discarded like used Kleenex when no longer useful. The Trump team seeks to do away with universal health care, social services ans make the lives of the poor more miserable and short while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. How is this good policy or good for you?
Oh, I would agree that there is a lot to be said about and in favor of RFK Jr. I haven't been following him for ten years, but I have been listening to him for a while now and I think his ACTUAL stances are very different than the portrayal of them, and I have a hard time disagreeing with much of what he says (which is a passive way of saying "I agree." I guess this comes down to the reason I found my way to this newsletter: perplexity about his belief that Trump has any objectives beyond steering the country/world towards his own gain, and a lack of evidence for confidence in that regard. God willing I am wrong and that, should the unthinkable (in my view) take place and Trump legitimately wins, RFK is actually able to do as he wishes: clean up food, soil, move us towards real healthcare rather than illness management, etc. But for me, that feels more like (to use a relevant but imperfect metaphor) dousing a garden in roundup to save some kale from infestation.
absurd. Their whole plan is to gut the EPA, end regulations on polluting companies, and massively increase oil and fossil fuel mining which is devastating for the environment and human health. This is just some window dressing to fool a small percentage of the people.
I agree. I hope that's clear. I am just trying to address the belief directly, as I think it's actually quite a lot of people who believe that RFK will get in there and create meaningful change within that administration, which I do not at all see happening. I believe that voting for T b/c of the people who he "promises" to surround himself with (there is no human being alive whose promises are worth less) is like burning the house down to start a fire in the fireplace.
What are the main issues that worry you most about Trump and his presidency?
Do you think Trump is interested in creating the conditions for a healthier, more self-actualized society to flourish? Forgetting all of the details, there is absolutely nothing about the world as he sees it (full of enemies) that attracts me, even at the most basic, energetic level. I am not naive — I do understand that there is a "cost of attack/benefit of attack" dynamic that has been at play since the beginning of time (as Jason Lowery frames it), and that is an important facet of human life that is not to be overlooked, spiritually bypassed, or naively (and dangerously) demonized. I was in the room with Trump at the Bitcoin conference, and I felt like I saw him for what he really was: an entertainer (more skillful, in a way, than I would have thought), a man with no real convictions outside of whatever serves his PERSONAL purposes in the moment. This is not a new observation, but I honestly have not gotten any impression that the man gives a shit about anything, but he is very willing to eagerly destroy a lot of things that people give a lot of shits about.
I think the main thing that worries me is the total consolidation of control and eradication of the mechanisms of dissent and punishment of dissenters (which is very different than cultural cancellation/policing and the constricting of ideas in the public sphere, which I wholly agree has gotten way out of control). Obviously the abortion issue, which he's distancing himself from. I think we've seen the direction of that trajectory in states that are criminalizing abortion, etc, and it's almost too horrific to wrap my head around. There's the eradication of agencies like the EPA, which is what makes it so hard for me to understand RFK. I understand the narrative around "green energy being a pathway to totalitarian control," but I do not agree with it. I do not think that the absence of regulations leads to a healthy outcome. Like my favorite example of regulating the airline industry: I, for one, do not want to get on a plane whose safety has been verified by the very people invested in getting it up and running. I think that there is a tension between too much regulation and not enough regulation, and I think that Trump wants to bring a mallet (or machine gun) to issues that require surgical precision. That's just a smattering!
I’m taking my chances with RFK, Tulsi and therefore Trump.
I know some other Trump supporters who have told me that I'm being alarmist, and that I have nothing to worry about, and don't I care about my taxes going up, and transwomen in women's sports. and woke horribleness. But I'm with Daniel on this one. I sincerely hope I am wrong, and next year you get to tell people like me "I told you so," but I am not counting on that.
I really appreciate your vigilance and eloquence underscoring the unambiguous threat we face in the prospect of a Trump-Vance victory or coup. To top it off, you share a Lorca poem, which ought to inspire good republicans (small r) across the land to resist tyranny and vote for Harris-Walz -- not because they're ideal, but because they would enable us, at the very least, to live another day. Your post of today is very romantic and heart warming. I thank you for it.
Everything that Vance and Roberts say and seem to believe is actually a projection of their party-why isn't this obvious?
It's the oldest trick in the book of psychology.
This part, for ex-if you substitute Republicans for Unhumans-totally works!
By becoming consumed by nihilism, unhumans oppose everything that makes up humanity. As they are opposed to humanity itself, they place themselves outside of the category completely, in an entirely new misery-driven subdivision, the unhuman. They specifically reject the human rights of others. So if and when they get their way, they will unhuman you, too. They convert, and that which they cannot convert, they destroy.
I agree. So obviously true.
I share your concern, Daniel. Americans pride themselves on being practical and street smart, often in contrast to those who they characterize as the oh-so effete Europeans and the benighted, desperate masses from other countries. With the ascendance of Donald and in the Tucker Carlson example I cite below, we see that the reality is the opposite: So many Americans are credulous rubes and the fatal flaw in 21st century Americans is *the inability to spot a performing bullshit artist.*
Tucker Carlson has the number two podcast in the United States. A few weeks ago he had a 3 1/2 hour interview with a "historian" who is a Holocaust denialist. The guest ambiguously recognized mass killings of Jewish civilians by Germany in World War II, but argued it was mainly due to poor planning of how to take care of of prisoners of war, bureaucratic missteps and the fog of war - contrary to the voluminous, meticulous evidence and witness testimony. Tucker's popularity as he airs such insidious trash is an indication that we are in very deep shit in this country. Many Americans' thinking is so compromised and desperate that they are unable to identify Tucker Carlson as a relentless and ruthless bullshit artist and they are unable to identify his guest as an obvious charlatan and a glib fascist.
You my friend are pointing to something the majority can not see. The Majority of us aren't fully Conscious, this is that moment in time when at least 20 million Conscious fully realized human beings rise up and create the collective weave been weaving fore. Those 40 million can bring about a new way of weaving our cultural political and economical Spheres into a new way of thinking and being that serve us in ways which brings the kind of Peace we all can Imagine...
DP let's head in this direction U is the New Is Real
A Conscious Collective 40 Million Strong 💪
There's a great quote in the tv show Rome where Cato says we must preserve the republic and is told "the people aren't clamoring for the republic. They are clamoring for break, work, order."
Pieces like this miss the central issues in America at the moment. Even if Harris wins the election, well face the exact same issue in 2028 because the problems compelling tens of millions of Americans to ally themselves with Trumpism are not on the ballot. If Harris wins they'll be there in 2028 too. So now every single year is going to be a "critical year for democracy" and if every election is an existential threat to the very existence of America the republic cannot survive.
Personally I think the optimal outcome is one side wins the executive and the other wins the legislative. A deadlock will prevent either from going nuts, hopefully buying enough time for the Public to open their eyes
Good point.
Great article Daniel. Yes, it's sad that we have only 2 real choices here in the US, the corporate Dems or the now outright fascist Repubs, but it's important to see reality clearly as you emphasize.
The way I see it, if the Democrats prevail the chances of forcing positive change through an engaged segment of the citizenry persists, whereas if the Trumpist Republicans prevail such possibilities will be cut off. Not to say that it will be easy even if Harris / Walz win, but at least the chances for socio-economic progress is retained. Under Trump we'll get neo-fascism as described in Project 2025, informed by Christian Nationalists and Opus Dei.
It's odd, isn't it? Even just browsing this comment section. Makes you wonder what the subjective experience of some people is like. It's the elephant in the room. What is it like to have a subjectivity with no veridical value? I heard Bret weinstein reflecting on how AI has revealed that humans are just LLMs. I think in the sense that we operate by probabilistic word association. It seems like some people are just caught in symbolic webs, just pure word association with no correlation to the world. As a lifelong reader and thinker it seems to me the real value of immersing yourself in words is to dissolve their meaning, so you can navigate outside of the word association game that is the cultural default. I dunno, it's a disturbing argument if human psychology/mentation.
good point Justin
Yeah, maybe. But at the same time, my gut tells me all that I need to know when danger is afoot. Also, many of us have done the necessary research (with or without the help of AI). My fear is based on lived experience, research and interviews and travel to the source. For example, in order to understand the immigration issue, I had jumped at an opportunity to spend a couple of months at the US/Mexico border on a government mission to assist with the CBP. I got a very complete picture of what is happening there. Many of us here in the comments section are thoughtful people who carefully consider our words. To reduce us to automatons, as Brett is suggesting, is not only insulting but it complete negates the possibility that maybe, just maybe some of us really thought through our position and don't take the process of doing so lightly, casually, or automatically.
Our minds might function like LLMs but to think that therefore we are 'just LLMs' is seriously mistaken. Are you just a mind?
*aspect of human psychology
Why is there no movement to change the voting system. Since we changed in New Zealand from ‘first past the post’ similar to Canada where a minority could win, to MMP, based on the German system, we have only had coalition governments. Including a strong indigenous “Māori” party and a strong Green Party
I’m glad you bring up the Issue of intelligence vis a vis Vance’s potential to do harm. The nature of fascism and “evil” has been a leitmotif question for me. I was born in Austria a few months before WWII ended. The swastika on my birth certificate is like a mission statement: do everything in your power to be a stand for what Steiner calls “ethical individualism”. I have learned that the leading perpetrators of the Nazi war crimes had genius-level IQs!! https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-nazi-and-the-psychiatrist/.
Well, I’m preternaturally confident. Average us out and we’re both being reasonable. Hang in there, man.
Confident about what ?!
As a Jew, I have shared that high anxiety.... at times, even panic...considering a MAGA (Brownshirts) victory. I am doing all I can to prevent that. So many people, especially the Left, keep going down that sorry road: "It's all about corporate greed. Vote for Stein/ West or no one at all." THIS IS NOT A NORMAL ELECTION. I ask my friends to give a little bit more to her campaign, to stick out their necks more on social media, send postcards, put up yard signs etc. And, of course, to work on the level of Spirit where the changes are designed...
You could spend an eternity in hell arguing about the ways in which both parties lead to the death of the world as we know it. The duopoly of the system needs to be broken. We are fucked either way with the result of the current election. I could not vote for either option. Hope lies in something completely different.
I get all of that, but at least in the short term we are less totally fucked if Harris wins, so I strongly recommend reconsidering and voting for her, particularly if you are in a swing state.
What impact do you think the forever war schedule of the Democrats has on the climate? Do you think war impacts climate change? Do you think cloud seeding affects climate change? What about de-forestation? What about the incessant use of concrete increasing impermeable surfaces? Are the democrats going to do shit about all that? I really do believe that the fucked uppedness is equal in both parties and this election is a write-off. It’s the emergence of a third alternative that is the only action - to have a plan over the next four years. What options are there for that? How do you have that conversation and mobilise that? What of independents who are already in the arena but who just don’t get a look in because the system itself is corrupt and can remove their names from ballots? Why is no one trying to stop that kind of carry on? Sorry for all the questions.
Yes, I recommend Dr. Bandy Lee on Trump Contagion ( a rampant virus in my opinion) , Pam Gregory astrologer for messages in the sky and clarity on the understanding that the projection is real --they ''spot it' because they've got it. I hope we stay focused on our sanity and take care of each other.
This is the most depressing comment series ever.