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Apr 11, 2019
Apr 10, 2019
The Four Goals
Anthropocene - the age of humans - a time when people will determine the future and the survivability of their own kind without directly considering the vagaries of nature.
A time when humans will decide whether or not the world remains a place where humans can live.
We're fucked unless we figure some things out.
A time when humans will decide whether or not the world remains a place where humans can live.
We're fucked unless we figure some things out.
- end our use of fossil fuels
- shift to a system of food production that reduces our reliance on meat proteins and puts less pressure on fresh water resources
- manage the oceans
- Preserve current wild lands, and allow some of the developed lands to return to a wild state
The short version is all about reversing the typical bullshit that says we have to accept The Tragedy Of The Commons as gospel and inevitable.
Apr 9, 2019
Apr 8, 2019
Today's Quote
Chris Hedges gets a little purple for me, but he can make some points that have to be considered.
“When a tiny cabal seizes power — monarchist, communist, fascist, or corporate — it creates a mafia economy and a mafia state. Trump is not an anomaly. He is the grotesque visage of a collapsed democracy. Trump and his coterie of billionaires, generals, half-wits, Christian fascists, criminals, racists, and moral deviants play the role of the Snopes clan in some of William Faulkner’s novels. The Snopeses filled the power vacuum of the decayed South and ruthlessly seized control from the degenerated, former slaveholding aristocratic elites. Flem Snopes and his extended family — which includes a killer, a pedophile, a bigamist, an arsonist, a mentally disabled man who copulates with a cow, and a relative who sells tickets to witness the bestiality — are fictional representations of the scum now elevated to the highest level of the federal government. They embody the moral rot unleashed by unfettered capitalism.”
-- Chris Hedges
America: The Farewell Tour
Cult45
There are always reasons for any given behavior. Those reasons are often ridiculous - at least they seem pretty ridiculous to "normal" people - but it's possible to understand these things.
Bobby Azarian, PhD - Psychology Today:
6. The Power of Mortality Reminders and Perceived Existential Threat
A well-supported theory from social psychology, known as Terror Management Theory, explains why Trump’s fear mongering is doubly effective. The theory is based on the fact that humans have a unique awareness of their own mortality. The inevitably of one’s death creates existential terror and anxiety that is always residing below the surface. In order to manage this terror, humans adopt cultural worldviews — like religions, political ideologies, and national identities — that act as a buffer by instilling life with meaning and value.
Terror Management Theory predicts that when people are reminded of their own mortality, which happens with fear mongering, they will more strongly defend those who share their worldviews and national or ethnic identity, and act out more aggressively towards those who do not. Hundreds of studies have supported this hypothesis, and some have specifically shown that triggering thoughts of death tends to shift people towards the right.
Not only do death reminders increase nationalism, they may influence voting habits in favor of more conservative presidential candidates. And more disturbingly, in a study with American students, scientists found that making mortality salient increased support for extreme military interventions by American forces that could kill thousands of civilians overseas. Interestingly, the effect was present only in conservatives.
By constantly emphasizing existential threat, Trump may be creating a psychological condition that makes the brain respond positively rather than negatively to bigoted statements and divisive rhetoric.
In this video, I explain this in greater detail, and offer a potential solution to the problem.
So, yeah - dude's got a sing-song speaking style that gets pretty annoying pretty fast. For my own bad self, I'm trying to put aside my Sales Guy Training and ignore such things in favor of concentrating on the content.
One thing: it's interesting to me that the theme - perceived existential threat - is a recurring thing, and it meshes well with the old BBC documentary from 2006 (The Power Of Nightmares - Adam Curtis).
Here's your assignment on background:
The antidote, as per usual, is interaction with "the other side". Unfortunately, my experience of those interactions is that in order to have any chance at a meaningful exchange with a Red Hat or some other "conservative", I end up having to do most of the thinking for both us - just so we can have a civil discussion.
But that almost inevitably means my debate partner is going to accuse me of being some snobby PC elitist even though it's very likely he's someone fully engaged in deliberate ignorance (regarding one topic or another) and refuses even to learn some of the basics of public discourse, eg: Logical Fallacies.
I have to insist that facts are facts. And I have to insist that my insistence on those facts is not justification for anyone to cop out and say "Both Sides Are Just Being Intractable".
Your feeling vulnerable (because of whatever threat you believe is "out there") doesn't negate the moral and ethical norms that have to be in place so we can live together in a civilized manner.
"And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." --JFK
Apr 7, 2019
The Short List
Dear GOP -
- Jesus wasn't white
- Trump isn't Christian
- Trickle Down is bullshit
- Border walls are stoopid
- Water is wet
- Aid to Latin America is good for border security
- Climate Change is a real threat
- Anti-Vaxxers are dead wrong
- Healthcare is a right
- Gun violence has something to do with guns
- We don't need more nukes
- Legal abortion saves lives...and money
- Obama was born in Hawaii
- We have a right to air, water and soil that haven't been poisoned.
- The UN is important
- ...so is NATO...and the EU
- Public funding for schools, including the arts and extracurriculars, is a great investment
- Up is not down
- ...and vice versa
- High marginal tax rates keep us strong and free
There's more, but we'll go with that for now.
Today's Tweet
It seems the worms have crossed the blood brain barrier.
And he won't be "getting better" from here on out.
"Sheldon Adleson likes that esssoggyn, that's the kiddaofguyheeedev." pic.twitter.com/HaW8ji4FYF— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) April 6, 2019
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