Thank you Thom for this article which calls out the scary self delusion of many in positions of power and the potential harm to society and democracy that they present. I’ve been saying for years that the Republicans feel that they have been somehow ordained by god to rule us and that no other applicants for leadership need apply. They are so fervent in their belief of superiority that even lying, cheating and stealing to obtain that power is justified according to them and their followers. I am also disgusted by organized religion in this country and their flagrant abuse of wealth as well as their hypocrisy. If there was some way to tax these entities I would be all for it. Granted there are some church organizations that “walk the walk and talk the talk” like Rev. Barber’ Poor People’s Campaign. But in general I feel people put their faith and money too much in scam artists and con artists like TFM to their own detriment. Our worship of the rich and famous in this country has not gone well for us in my opinion and people need to use more critical thinking skills when electing our leadership. There’s too much vested interest by unscrupulous people to keep the electorate dumbed down and distracted and by propaganda 24/7 by a biased news media. Hopefully young voters will see through some of the BS out there and aren’t glued and hypnotized by Fox and others like the older generation. One can only hope.
I am also very heartened by what I see in todays young folks. Every chance I get I speak to and encourage young people to be involved. I think they get it.
Thank you for reminding us of what's really at stake. I'm also encouraged by what I see in many young Americans. On the other hand, there are many young Americans who've had their personalities quenched, drugged even, with the increasing use of pharmaceuticals. Even in their youth, if what they were trying to express was found too troubling for parents and teachers, they've been drugged - we've all heard stories of ritalin used to subdue them. Now we're seeing the consequences of not permitting them to express themselves -- pent-up rage. Combine that with easily-accessible guns, and it's a powder-keg situation. All because parents and teachers were too busy to take time to listen to their youth. This kind of neglect comes back to bite us all.
While you don't come out and say it in these terms, though you come close, the issue is one of a world-wide battle against evil. One doesn't need to couch that in the language of any religion; in fact, in today's climate, to do so would only add fuel to the fire. The fact is, the very things all Abrahamic religions, which include Islam, have warned us would take place are taking place today. I believe it's critical to see the situation in this light, because it is what will give us the strength and urgency to stand up against it. It is what brought good-hearted people in this nation to their feet and to the streets in the 1950s and 60s, leading to the Civil Rights Act and the Great Society. If ever there were an Antichrist in our time, it isn't the buffoon Donald Trump, but Ronald Reagan, who coopted that generation and derailed all the progress that we had slowly and painfully made since the New Deal. Many of my epochally idealistic and activist Boomer generation were led astray by his power to "Deceive, if possible, even the elect."
I also believe that through your service, Thom - may I call it your Sacred Calling? - many people are being enlightened, and there is a mighty phalanx of such voices that are becoming louder and more powerful by the day. And the most important part of your essay, which other commenters have also spoken about, is the new generation arising. As a 70-year-old man, I have been blessed to be able to spend a lot of time in circles with people half my age, or even less, and I have been blown away by what they are bringing into the world. It's like the 60s Boomer generation on steroids! In their twenties and thirties, they seem so far beyond where we were back then. And yes, tragically, as Maverick pointed out, the system has tried hard to suppress them through phony ADHD and autism diagnoses and a plethora of drugs that enriched the pharmaceutical industry. And yet, they are rising!
There's a Light emerging in the midst of all this darkness, and the Light is illuminating everything that has been in the shadows. The success of this evil plot to rule the world through wealth and eugenics relies on darkness and secrecy, but every day, more and more of it is being brought out into plain view, and ultimately, the people won't stand for it. Not here, and not anywhere else in the world. Don't give up the good fight. Don't lose hope in the Millennials and Gen Z and those who are coming all over the world. They're just finding their sea legs, and they have answers. But they may have to tear down some of the current structure, as we did back in the 60s.
And don't worry about your religion or lack of it. Righteousness is Righteousness, and evil is evil, no matter how we clothe it. A rabbi once told me that for the Jewish people, it doesn't matter if you believe in God, so long as you follow the Law. In my mind, the Law is what is written in everyone's heart, that we are all children of a single family, ALL of us, in our myriad manifestations, and wherever our brothers and sisters are being oppressed, the only commandment is to stand against the oppressor. CAN I HAVE AN AMEN?! :D
I too am encouraged by the thinking among people my son's age (almost 20YO), yet also witness the high levels of stress and anxiety among them. It's hard for Gen Z to conceptualize a political system that doesn't include some cult-of-personality element alongside mob rule behavior (even for progressive causes) and altruistic rebellion. Beyond that, I suspect many young people are in far less denial about the imminent end-game of climate change than most of their parents, teachers, and "leaders." The apparent evidence that young voters turned out in strength for the midterms is a hopeful sign that the pressures the "kids" are facing will motivate them more than it enervates them. As a GenXer, I am trying to be inspired by my son's generation so as not to collapse into self-protective self-absorption.
This Report on ego and religion gets to what ails our society and the danger of blind faith. I can't and furthermore, don't want to play the organized religion game. People may want to belong and build community, but you don't need god(s) for that. Ultimately, it's about control.
What amazes is how layer after layer the dogma gets piled on---centuries of it. Thanks to modern communication one can build Q-Anon and a cult almost overnight. Boy, some of us are really inventive, and boy oh boy, some of us are really bored!. Ultimately, it's about control.
The hardest thing to control is your mind, if you don't want to do it yourself, one of the "chosen few'' will be happy to do it for you. The fact that GASLIGHTING is the "word of the year" for Merriam-Webster tells us these younger people know. They know about who is trying to control them.
Thom, this is a very hard thing for Americans to accept about their fellows. That so many feel essentially anointed by God to realize America as the new Israel fulfilling a some imagined pact dreamed up by a fanatics like Rushdoony and his Christian Reconstructionist.
There really is an American Taliban made up of Christo Fascist - calling themselves Evangelicals that are constantly and unrelenting in the overthrow of the United States. Since they anointed Trump as an agent of God on earth to help them facilitate the overthrow they are absolutely pulling out the stops. They are backed literally by billions of dollars provided by far right billionaires who either subscribe to this crap and/or feel certain that they can be above the Theists whose they see as useful idiots.
I want to hand my fellow Hartmann fans a clear structure that must be understood if our nation is to survive beyond 2024.
The Republican Party = Fascism and Nazism
Evangelicals = Christo-Fascism and Nazism
Both will use stealth, grifting and outright violence to restore White Supremacy, misogyny, and Anti-Semitism.
I know you may want to look away, to believe that our world is somehow automatically self righting like a rubber ducky in a bathtub.
Very few of us even take into consideration that the last time a Fascist “Axis” took power that it too 65 million deaths, unimaginable suffering, and decades to recover from the economic impact that has inhibited a decent world for billions today.
If we fail to rise up and end this we will be the victims of the same savage barbarity.
#SocialDarwinism: I thought dat #Sh't burned out w the `National Socialists` of #Alemania back in '45! So, what you are saying, #Thom is that we've REGRESSED as a society. Or, such figures as "W's" grandpa never went away! #LuckyLindy, the "Bull-Semen" of #Europa no doubt would be happy to see such "superior genetics"! The UBER MENSCH!
Thanks, Thom, for another great topic of the day: "sent by God." I immediately have to ask: "Who was 'sent by God' ?" And who said so? No matter the answer, I don't buy it. After 75 years, I know for certain that I wasn't "sent by God"...so where do others get off that they were? Well, unless we have a well-grounded understanding of our human nature, I don't think we can adequately understand the problem we face let alone answer that question. Our basic tenant of psychology is that we have both a "small self" and the potential for a "Big Self"--but many do not realize (with double meaning) the latter is even possible. Some get stuck in the "holier-than-thou"syndrome when the small ego feels so inadequate that it adopts a god--be it money, ideology, any religion, power, etc.-- or "God" (Himself / Herself) and becomes "ego-inflated" as enlightenment circles like to call this aberration. Some such "ego-inflaters' get locked up in mental wards....while others become so successful in their act--and that's what it is...an act--that they bamboozle / gaslight / brainwash / scam / deceive / dominate others who are vulnerable & susceptible. The universe, I've concluded, has a very clever game afoot in which we humans play both sides of a single coin in order to wake us up to a higher consciousness. (BTW: I think we shouldn't demonize the "others" with words like "evil" and "the enemy"..... because "we have met the "enemy" and they are us"...yeh?) Instead, we "non-inflaters" have to deal with the "inflated" dominators in our society, and if we are successful in getting them back within the realm of our humane community, we may not perish. If we fail, perish we will...eh? So what do we do? Stand up to those who claims to be "sent-by-God," would-be (or actual) dominators...and call them out, expose their hypocrisy, laugh at their stupidity, and realize that "God" or "Love" or whatever one wants to call. it...is on the side of the non-dominators: the humanitarians...the caring...the sharing...the peace-loving...yeh? The youth get this already because they are closer to our true source as humans...while us older folks, like my generation the Boomers, have drifted into the insecurity of false gods....like money, power, & Trump. Sad....but true. Go GEN Z !!!
Thank you Thom for this article which calls out the scary self delusion of many in positions of power and the potential harm to society and democracy that they present. I’ve been saying for years that the Republicans feel that they have been somehow ordained by god to rule us and that no other applicants for leadership need apply. They are so fervent in their belief of superiority that even lying, cheating and stealing to obtain that power is justified according to them and their followers. I am also disgusted by organized religion in this country and their flagrant abuse of wealth as well as their hypocrisy. If there was some way to tax these entities I would be all for it. Granted there are some church organizations that “walk the walk and talk the talk” like Rev. Barber’ Poor People’s Campaign. But in general I feel people put their faith and money too much in scam artists and con artists like TFM to their own detriment. Our worship of the rich and famous in this country has not gone well for us in my opinion and people need to use more critical thinking skills when electing our leadership. There’s too much vested interest by unscrupulous people to keep the electorate dumbed down and distracted and by propaganda 24/7 by a biased news media. Hopefully young voters will see through some of the BS out there and aren’t glued and hypnotized by Fox and others like the older generation. One can only hope.
I am also very heartened by what I see in todays young folks. Every chance I get I speak to and encourage young people to be involved. I think they get it.
Thank you for reminding us of what's really at stake. I'm also encouraged by what I see in many young Americans. On the other hand, there are many young Americans who've had their personalities quenched, drugged even, with the increasing use of pharmaceuticals. Even in their youth, if what they were trying to express was found too troubling for parents and teachers, they've been drugged - we've all heard stories of ritalin used to subdue them. Now we're seeing the consequences of not permitting them to express themselves -- pent-up rage. Combine that with easily-accessible guns, and it's a powder-keg situation. All because parents and teachers were too busy to take time to listen to their youth. This kind of neglect comes back to bite us all.
While you don't come out and say it in these terms, though you come close, the issue is one of a world-wide battle against evil. One doesn't need to couch that in the language of any religion; in fact, in today's climate, to do so would only add fuel to the fire. The fact is, the very things all Abrahamic religions, which include Islam, have warned us would take place are taking place today. I believe it's critical to see the situation in this light, because it is what will give us the strength and urgency to stand up against it. It is what brought good-hearted people in this nation to their feet and to the streets in the 1950s and 60s, leading to the Civil Rights Act and the Great Society. If ever there were an Antichrist in our time, it isn't the buffoon Donald Trump, but Ronald Reagan, who coopted that generation and derailed all the progress that we had slowly and painfully made since the New Deal. Many of my epochally idealistic and activist Boomer generation were led astray by his power to "Deceive, if possible, even the elect."
I also believe that through your service, Thom - may I call it your Sacred Calling? - many people are being enlightened, and there is a mighty phalanx of such voices that are becoming louder and more powerful by the day. And the most important part of your essay, which other commenters have also spoken about, is the new generation arising. As a 70-year-old man, I have been blessed to be able to spend a lot of time in circles with people half my age, or even less, and I have been blown away by what they are bringing into the world. It's like the 60s Boomer generation on steroids! In their twenties and thirties, they seem so far beyond where we were back then. And yes, tragically, as Maverick pointed out, the system has tried hard to suppress them through phony ADHD and autism diagnoses and a plethora of drugs that enriched the pharmaceutical industry. And yet, they are rising!
There's a Light emerging in the midst of all this darkness, and the Light is illuminating everything that has been in the shadows. The success of this evil plot to rule the world through wealth and eugenics relies on darkness and secrecy, but every day, more and more of it is being brought out into plain view, and ultimately, the people won't stand for it. Not here, and not anywhere else in the world. Don't give up the good fight. Don't lose hope in the Millennials and Gen Z and those who are coming all over the world. They're just finding their sea legs, and they have answers. But they may have to tear down some of the current structure, as we did back in the 60s.
And don't worry about your religion or lack of it. Righteousness is Righteousness, and evil is evil, no matter how we clothe it. A rabbi once told me that for the Jewish people, it doesn't matter if you believe in God, so long as you follow the Law. In my mind, the Law is what is written in everyone's heart, that we are all children of a single family, ALL of us, in our myriad manifestations, and wherever our brothers and sisters are being oppressed, the only commandment is to stand against the oppressor. CAN I HAVE AN AMEN?! :D
I too am encouraged by the thinking among people my son's age (almost 20YO), yet also witness the high levels of stress and anxiety among them. It's hard for Gen Z to conceptualize a political system that doesn't include some cult-of-personality element alongside mob rule behavior (even for progressive causes) and altruistic rebellion. Beyond that, I suspect many young people are in far less denial about the imminent end-game of climate change than most of their parents, teachers, and "leaders." The apparent evidence that young voters turned out in strength for the midterms is a hopeful sign that the pressures the "kids" are facing will motivate them more than it enervates them. As a GenXer, I am trying to be inspired by my son's generation so as not to collapse into self-protective self-absorption.
This Report on ego and religion gets to what ails our society and the danger of blind faith. I can't and furthermore, don't want to play the organized religion game. People may want to belong and build community, but you don't need god(s) for that. Ultimately, it's about control.
What amazes is how layer after layer the dogma gets piled on---centuries of it. Thanks to modern communication one can build Q-Anon and a cult almost overnight. Boy, some of us are really inventive, and boy oh boy, some of us are really bored!. Ultimately, it's about control.
The hardest thing to control is your mind, if you don't want to do it yourself, one of the "chosen few'' will be happy to do it for you. The fact that GASLIGHTING is the "word of the year" for Merriam-Webster tells us these younger people know. They know about who is trying to control them.
Thom, this is a very hard thing for Americans to accept about their fellows. That so many feel essentially anointed by God to realize America as the new Israel fulfilling a some imagined pact dreamed up by a fanatics like Rushdoony and his Christian Reconstructionist.
There really is an American Taliban made up of Christo Fascist - calling themselves Evangelicals that are constantly and unrelenting in the overthrow of the United States. Since they anointed Trump as an agent of God on earth to help them facilitate the overthrow they are absolutely pulling out the stops. They are backed literally by billions of dollars provided by far right billionaires who either subscribe to this crap and/or feel certain that they can be above the Theists whose they see as useful idiots.
I want to hand my fellow Hartmann fans a clear structure that must be understood if our nation is to survive beyond 2024.
The Republican Party = Fascism and Nazism
Evangelicals = Christo-Fascism and Nazism
Both will use stealth, grifting and outright violence to restore White Supremacy, misogyny, and Anti-Semitism.
I know you may want to look away, to believe that our world is somehow automatically self righting like a rubber ducky in a bathtub.
Very few of us even take into consideration that the last time a Fascist “Axis” took power that it too 65 million deaths, unimaginable suffering, and decades to recover from the economic impact that has inhibited a decent world for billions today.
If we fail to rise up and end this we will be the victims of the same savage barbarity.
#SocialDarwinism: I thought dat #Sh't burned out w the `National Socialists` of #Alemania back in '45! So, what you are saying, #Thom is that we've REGRESSED as a society. Or, such figures as "W's" grandpa never went away! #LuckyLindy, the "Bull-Semen" of #Europa no doubt would be happy to see such "superior genetics"! The UBER MENSCH!
Thanks, Thom, for another great topic of the day: "sent by God." I immediately have to ask: "Who was 'sent by God' ?" And who said so? No matter the answer, I don't buy it. After 75 years, I know for certain that I wasn't "sent by God"...so where do others get off that they were? Well, unless we have a well-grounded understanding of our human nature, I don't think we can adequately understand the problem we face let alone answer that question. Our basic tenant of psychology is that we have both a "small self" and the potential for a "Big Self"--but many do not realize (with double meaning) the latter is even possible. Some get stuck in the "holier-than-thou"syndrome when the small ego feels so inadequate that it adopts a god--be it money, ideology, any religion, power, etc.-- or "God" (Himself / Herself) and becomes "ego-inflated" as enlightenment circles like to call this aberration. Some such "ego-inflaters' get locked up in mental wards....while others become so successful in their act--and that's what it is...an act--that they bamboozle / gaslight / brainwash / scam / deceive / dominate others who are vulnerable & susceptible. The universe, I've concluded, has a very clever game afoot in which we humans play both sides of a single coin in order to wake us up to a higher consciousness. (BTW: I think we shouldn't demonize the "others" with words like "evil" and "the enemy"..... because "we have met the "enemy" and they are us"...yeh?) Instead, we "non-inflaters" have to deal with the "inflated" dominators in our society, and if we are successful in getting them back within the realm of our humane community, we may not perish. If we fail, perish we will...eh? So what do we do? Stand up to those who claims to be "sent-by-God," would-be (or actual) dominators...and call them out, expose their hypocrisy, laugh at their stupidity, and realize that "God" or "Love" or whatever one wants to call. it...is on the side of the non-dominators: the humanitarians...the caring...the sharing...the peace-loving...yeh? The youth get this already because they are closer to our true source as humans...while us older folks, like my generation the Boomers, have drifted into the insecurity of false gods....like money, power, & Trump. Sad....but true. Go GEN Z !!!