I have been waiting for that gaffe for nine years. He had committed what for anyone else would be “The Gaffe” hundreds if not thousands of times since 2015. I have been waiting for his implosion every day. The political rules we have always lived by in my 71 years no longer apply. That his behavior has no effect at all has just about dri…
I have been waiting for that gaffe for nine years. He had committed what for anyone else would be “The Gaffe” hundreds if not thousands of times since 2015. I have been waiting for his implosion every day. The political rules we have always lived by in my 71 years no longer apply. That his behavior has no effect at all has just about driven me insane. We are morally, spiritually and politically bankrupt as a country, and I fear we are all about to see the decline and fall of the American empire as a result of our degeneracy.
"We are morally, spiritually and politically bankrupt as a country, and I fear we are all about to see the decline and fall of the American empire as a result of our degeneracy."
Yes. While of course not true of everybody, at some point as a nation we reached a tipping point where selfishness and self-interest began to outweigh the greater good. Aided largely by social media, telling people what they want to hear outweighed telling them what they need to know. Collectively we have been our own worst enemy. And while aspects of it are perceived elsewhere too, it remains an open question as to why America has been so much more susceptible to the malady than most other nations and cultures.
That's writing off the majority that voted against Trump both times.
We're human, susceptible to human maladies. Our system was built with the presumption of reasoned civic engagement by people with knowledge of the function of the system, and we've endured a great deal of malicious sabotage of our fundamental civics education and principles.
And yet solid majorities have turned up against Trump both times.
It's not indecency as a population, it's complexity and frustration and no small measure of obfuscation by people who profit from either civic disengagement or ignorance.
Maybe so if you see it in purely political terms. My 30,000-foot-level view takes in more than just that. Individual mileage may vary, but overall ours has become a very selfish, materialistic, me-first culture, and the cost has trickled down into the political arena as well. It's okay to say it out loud.
I usually agree wholeheartedly with you Mr D, but I am not so sure we are washed up yet. I am holding my fire until I see what the election brings. I agree that the majority seems to have their heads at least somewhat straight.
And, we as a people are dealing with a lot major change right now. The cultural stuff, gay marriage, transgender, book banning, christian nationalism, etc, etc.
There is bound to be major turmoil as all this is confronted. There has always been a certain % of any population that is too lazy or ignorant or doesn't want to know the truth. It is easier for them to follow the leader, then they do not have to try and figure things out.
I hope you are right. My bigger-picture point is less to do with politics and more about the overall nature of change -- which is not always for better. The overriding question is: have our politics made us into who we are, or does who we are determine our politics? I'd argue the latter.
I look around and see so much evolution, for worse, in how we interact with each other and regard others. You are right that much progress has been made on larger-scale cultural issues, and that is important. But little things often serve as a tell too, and on our individual windows to the world. Some examples ... look at how people drive, more and more aggressive than ever. I don't recall road rage being an issue several decades earlier, with all of the flying by at breakneck pace, weaving frequently in and out of traffic, flipping the finger, and otherwise acting like everyone else is in our way. Look at how "discussion" has degenerated in quality in online forums (excepting here, where civility rules) to dumpster fire status. Many sites have done away with comments for just that reasons -- if in doubt read some sports pages on Facebook and elsewhere and see how many people begin to act like teenagers (or younger) at the slightest hint of controversy or difference of opinion. And look at how so many among us dress, wearing clothes out and about that, if they tried to donate them to Goodwill, they would put them into the garbage bin instead. All under the banner of "I don't care what people think, ..." and in service to the self. Taken together, it all says something about who we collectively have become, and it is not a pretty picture.
Thus endeth my sermon for today -- go forth and be righteous, just after our final hymn, number 130 in your book, "Just As I Am."
Politics is an extension of who we are as a culture. The values that inform our culture inform our politics.
Given no countervailing pressures, people tend to be selfish. This is evidenced in what is called the tragedy of the commons, where common resources are abused by selfish individuals.
I was watching a romantic comedy the other day (forget the title, my wife wanted to watch it). It was surprisingly good--not because it was particularly funny (and romance isn't really my thing in literature or movies) but because of the subtext--which was how one of the major characters always turned everything into being all about them.
Our culture and media (and media structures) have made us very self-centered and self-focused. There is minimal care or concern for the community or commons in swathes of our society (and actual anger when common concerns, like the environment, are pointed out).
Through in the death of shame on top of that and you geta toxic brew.
Well said. I agree with you that it is the latter, who we are determines our politics.
The rest of what you said has merit. And I agree with much of it. I know that history may tend to predict a less than favorable outcome of our current situation, such as a complete disintegration of the country as we know it. However we are a unique experiment, and we do have the good fortune of knowing history and how the authoritarians work.
I believe good folk are still the majority. Also so many groups that were formerly kept under society's boot heel now have some power, and visibility. They will not succumb easily nor go quietly. My fingers are crossed, and I say a prayer.
Yes, I believe we are more selfish and less centered on the common good now. It is a message that has bombarded us more and more with each passing generation. We are no longer shaped by the Great Depression and World War II, with their hardships, rather by the subsequent largely deprivation-free eras running from "I've gotta be me" to "greed is good" to "get yours above all else," with more intensity and less tolerance for dissenting viewpoints from others. The proliferation of affordable technology and social media in particular have done a great deal to enhance that, and in a short amount of time.
I tend to agree with your assessment of the upcoming generation, that they are wired somewhat differently in their priorities. But I suspect that it is a reaction more than an action, as they become aware of how much the previous two to three generations have effed up our society and ecology in the name of indulging themselves. What remains to be seen is whether their version of the "I don't want to be like my parents" mindset is truly a sea change or if it lasts only until they have enough to lose that they see things differently. I truly hope that their anti-materialism bend continues rather than yields to economic realities. They seem more aware than many of us that there is much more to life than getting and holding money.
It is less about the toys and more intangible (at least with the youth). More centered upon emotions/feelings. This is, I think, a phenomenon of the internet/social media age.
I have been waiting for that gaffe for nine years. He had committed what for anyone else would be “The Gaffe” hundreds if not thousands of times since 2015. I have been waiting for his implosion every day. The political rules we have always lived by in my 71 years no longer apply. That his behavior has no effect at all has just about driven me insane. We are morally, spiritually and politically bankrupt as a country, and I fear we are all about to see the decline and fall of the American empire as a result of our degeneracy.
It's not all of us. Turns out it was mostly those who claim to be the most moral and righteous.
Too true, Catie. And so it is now, and thus it has ever been.
"We are morally, spiritually and politically bankrupt as a country, and I fear we are all about to see the decline and fall of the American empire as a result of our degeneracy."
Yes. While of course not true of everybody, at some point as a nation we reached a tipping point where selfishness and self-interest began to outweigh the greater good. Aided largely by social media, telling people what they want to hear outweighed telling them what they need to know. Collectively we have been our own worst enemy. And while aspects of it are perceived elsewhere too, it remains an open question as to why America has been so much more susceptible to the malady than most other nations and cultures.
I suggest that it's that pesky weaponized First Amendment.
Weaponized First Amendment or weaponized internet?
Is it the medium or the message?
(I realize you have your tongue in your cheek, too.)
Both. The combination is poisonous and way beyond the founder's imaginations.
That's writing off the majority that voted against Trump both times.
We're human, susceptible to human maladies. Our system was built with the presumption of reasoned civic engagement by people with knowledge of the function of the system, and we've endured a great deal of malicious sabotage of our fundamental civics education and principles.
And yet solid majorities have turned up against Trump both times.
It's not indecency as a population, it's complexity and frustration and no small measure of obfuscation by people who profit from either civic disengagement or ignorance.
Maybe so if you see it in purely political terms. My 30,000-foot-level view takes in more than just that. Individual mileage may vary, but overall ours has become a very selfish, materialistic, me-first culture, and the cost has trickled down into the political arena as well. It's okay to say it out loud.
I usually agree wholeheartedly with you Mr D, but I am not so sure we are washed up yet. I am holding my fire until I see what the election brings. I agree that the majority seems to have their heads at least somewhat straight.
And, we as a people are dealing with a lot major change right now. The cultural stuff, gay marriage, transgender, book banning, christian nationalism, etc, etc.
There is bound to be major turmoil as all this is confronted. There has always been a certain % of any population that is too lazy or ignorant or doesn't want to know the truth. It is easier for them to follow the leader, then they do not have to try and figure things out.
I still have some Hopium left.
I hope you are right. My bigger-picture point is less to do with politics and more about the overall nature of change -- which is not always for better. The overriding question is: have our politics made us into who we are, or does who we are determine our politics? I'd argue the latter.
I look around and see so much evolution, for worse, in how we interact with each other and regard others. You are right that much progress has been made on larger-scale cultural issues, and that is important. But little things often serve as a tell too, and on our individual windows to the world. Some examples ... look at how people drive, more and more aggressive than ever. I don't recall road rage being an issue several decades earlier, with all of the flying by at breakneck pace, weaving frequently in and out of traffic, flipping the finger, and otherwise acting like everyone else is in our way. Look at how "discussion" has degenerated in quality in online forums (excepting here, where civility rules) to dumpster fire status. Many sites have done away with comments for just that reasons -- if in doubt read some sports pages on Facebook and elsewhere and see how many people begin to act like teenagers (or younger) at the slightest hint of controversy or difference of opinion. And look at how so many among us dress, wearing clothes out and about that, if they tried to donate them to Goodwill, they would put them into the garbage bin instead. All under the banner of "I don't care what people think, ..." and in service to the self. Taken together, it all says something about who we collectively have become, and it is not a pretty picture.
Thus endeth my sermon for today -- go forth and be righteous, just after our final hymn, number 130 in your book, "Just As I Am."
Politics is an extension of who we are as a culture. The values that inform our culture inform our politics.
Given no countervailing pressures, people tend to be selfish. This is evidenced in what is called the tragedy of the commons, where common resources are abused by selfish individuals.
I was watching a romantic comedy the other day (forget the title, my wife wanted to watch it). It was surprisingly good--not because it was particularly funny (and romance isn't really my thing in literature or movies) but because of the subtext--which was how one of the major characters always turned everything into being all about them.
Our culture and media (and media structures) have made us very self-centered and self-focused. There is minimal care or concern for the community or commons in swathes of our society (and actual anger when common concerns, like the environment, are pointed out).
Through in the death of shame on top of that and you geta toxic brew.
Well said. I agree with you that it is the latter, who we are determines our politics.
The rest of what you said has merit. And I agree with much of it. I know that history may tend to predict a less than favorable outcome of our current situation, such as a complete disintegration of the country as we know it. However we are a unique experiment, and we do have the good fortune of knowing history and how the authoritarians work.
I believe good folk are still the majority. Also so many groups that were formerly kept under society's boot heel now have some power, and visibility. They will not succumb easily nor go quietly. My fingers are crossed, and I say a prayer.
That's the lament of every generation.
Are we truly more self-centered and narcissistic and materialistic than we were during the Gilded Age? The sixties or the eighties?
I look at the kids and I see the usual angst and turmoil, but I don't see the "He who dies with the most toys wins" ethos we had in the eighties.
Yes, I believe we are more selfish and less centered on the common good now. It is a message that has bombarded us more and more with each passing generation. We are no longer shaped by the Great Depression and World War II, with their hardships, rather by the subsequent largely deprivation-free eras running from "I've gotta be me" to "greed is good" to "get yours above all else," with more intensity and less tolerance for dissenting viewpoints from others. The proliferation of affordable technology and social media in particular have done a great deal to enhance that, and in a short amount of time.
I tend to agree with your assessment of the upcoming generation, that they are wired somewhat differently in their priorities. But I suspect that it is a reaction more than an action, as they become aware of how much the previous two to three generations have effed up our society and ecology in the name of indulging themselves. What remains to be seen is whether their version of the "I don't want to be like my parents" mindset is truly a sea change or if it lasts only until they have enough to lose that they see things differently. I truly hope that their anti-materialism bend continues rather than yields to economic realities. They seem more aware than many of us that there is much more to life than getting and holding money.
We have to hope they do act better, as saving the planet will be in their hands.
I hear ya and hope too that they become leaders far more than followers.
That's kind of my point, that we've seen cycles of engagement and disengagement rather than a steady descent, just the regular pulse of society.
Though really we're measuring our personal vibes without data at this point.
It is less about the toys and more intangible (at least with the youth). More centered upon emotions/feelings. This is, I think, a phenomenon of the internet/social media age.
Things were worse during the McCarthy era in the 1950s. And much worse in the 1860s. Remember history. Have a sense of perspective.