Step by Step, MAGA Is normalizing repression and setting America up for tyranny. Will we wait, like so many before us, until the knock comes to our own door?
Great facts. I want to stand up and cheer…. And I am simply going nuts over the simple fact that Americans are simple, not educated, easily subdued with casual entrapment (cell phones), Polly Anna’d to the core so that demanding they get the support of their courts and their military doesn’t occur. They do not know what the Constitution says or could do.
They do not know what the three branches of their government are supposed to do. Those in the three branches seem not to know either.
This is the real crisis. Those of us who have learned to think and to digest truth over lies are writing to one another and hoping that teaches everyone. This scares me more than anything. And yes, I am busy writing just to get the fear out of my gut and to dump it on anyone who understands.
Thank you Mr. Hartmann for knowing more than most of us and for sharing it. It pray it gets put on the Big Screen of public awareness before another day passes.
Only if one is really scared shitless, does one get off their ass and fight back, otherwise liberals are known for their open mindedness, passivity, kumbaya, until they are rounded up and shoved into a van.
Still waiting to see what's happening to the BIG CRAPPY bill, which is his number one priority.
IMHO Trump looks nutsy koo koo and needs to be evaluated for involutary civil commitment. A discussion of his mental state should be the predicate for every tactical policy decision he's been making. The media should be asking: IS HE NUTS?
All we can do is take advantage of what we have. I'm grateful for any substantiation of Trump's mens rea.
What's happening with the senate parlimentarian? Senate Republicans are expected to closely follow the guidance of parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough as they embark on the “Byrd bath” in the coming weeks, with noncompliant provisions sometimes referred to as “Byrd droppings.”
What's happenng with stuff like Medicaid cuts, that undermine his support in red states?
There also will be a trial in LA -- and now maybe Omaha -- that can cut this off. Newsom filed a complaint.
I'm hoping that there are Califorinia Congressional Republicans -- there are 9 of them-- that know the rationale for this -- danger of invasion by a foreign nation; there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States -- is BS and will step forward.
Can call "adverse witnesses." Call Homan to the stand. Local Republican politicians.
Doubting the sanity of The Glorious Leader will present you with two options: 1) Being stripped of your citizenship and sent to El Salvador for soul-searching in some gulag; 2) Gaining admission to the neighborhood reeducation center, where you'll be cellmates with Winston Smith and surveilled 24/7. Admittedly, not much of a choice but the inevitable price of inaction now. Oh, and there there's always the wall.
My wife keeps saying, maybe we should leave the country. But we are not wealthy. It’s not so easy to do something like that when we own a home and have jobs and our children live here. We will be protesting on Saturday. I think we’re gonna have to live through whatever this is and becomes.
We need to keep protesting as much as possible. Thom is correct; it is escalating. Thanks for your article today, it is right on as usual. I have been living this for more than two decades, 24/7, a personal targeting of me for nothing but slander and revenge, and I can't even take them to court to establish I have done nothing illegal. Additionally, if I call a lawyer for a consultation, they refuse because they don't want the surveillance on their business. Billy, leaving the country for regular citizens would be doable, but with all you have invested here, it doesn't make sense, at least not yet. I can't move because it follows me - government-sanctioned. I agree with William Farrar here; it is too late, and he articulates the signs very clearly.
It is already too late. Our erstwhile political leaders, have waffled, hesitated, equivocated, our corporate media has surrendered years ago. Pacifists and cowards are hiding in the ditches, afraid to stick their heads up, for fear of having them cut off.
The enemy is hopium, (hope plus opium). Trust in the institutions and the intelligence, common sense and good will of your fellow Americans, and all will be well, a knight in shiny armor, a hero will emerge that will save us, so long as we behave and comply.
I wish the planned nationwide protests well on June 14th, but expect nothing of them, at best Trump an d the media (except for Rachel Maddow) will ignore them, at worst Proud Boy agitators will create enough damage and violence to justify Trump repeating his act in LA.
Dust off your passport, (probably too late to request one, takes a month or two anyway)
Belize speaks English, welcomes Americans and has cheap if not exceptional health care. For those on Social security., unless you keep your bank account and direct deposit.
If you are a citizen of one of the countries listed below, your Social Security payments will keep coming no matter how long you stay outside the U.S., as long as you are eligible for the payments.
Austria Hungary Poland
Belgium Iceland Portugal
Brazil Ireland Slovak Republic
Canada Israel Slovenia
Chile Italy Spain
Czech Republic Japan Sweden
Finland Korea (South) Switzerland
France Luxembourg United Kingdom
Germany Netherlands Uruguay
For me Uruguay looks good. The national food is pizza, and I speak Spanish.
Uruguay is predominantly a Spanish-speaking country. Spanish is the official language and is spoken by the vast majority of the population. While Italian immigration has significantly influenced Uruguayan culture and language, Spanish remains the dominant language.
Getting used to Gestapo raids is, of course, essential to fascist rule. However, Trump's government thuggery has an additional purpose. It sends a clear message that resistance is useless. The regime will always come for you without warning and in force.
Also, we do not need all these prisons Trump is creating to enable immigrant deportations. They will eventually house free labor for our oligarchs.
Finally, the reason we have an administration staffed exclusively by incompetent people is to enable dictatorship. The cabinet has to do what it is told, because they haven't a clue how to do their jobs.
According to guys like Trump, my people, i.e. OSHA, were like the Gestapo. He was the poster boy for "employer sanctions" for hiring illegals to work on his job sites. Had to pay fines and make restitution. As a result, he uses temporary foreign workers on his properties to displace Americans.
For some, raids like these have been ongoing since the GWB administration.
From my perspective, had they wanted to cut off illegal employment, they'd attack employers who hire "under the tabe," paying substandard wages, avoiding liability for workers' compensation, IRS and SS taxes, etc. Ironically the center of the universe for employers breaking immigration laws are places like Home Depot parking lots.....
How do we stand up to this?! My government representatives are all on board with Trump…spreading the lies about the big bill, etc Gov DeSantis is doing his best to mirror the ugliness and hurt of Trump He’s taken over the higher education system now with the help of intentionally placed suck ups on college boards I’m so f…ing angry that our government run by laws is ignored willfully by the elected and we can do nothing Yes I have called and written to Gus Bilrakis, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody Based on responses and their fictional newsletters, this is a waste of time And yes, I’m headed to a couple of No Kings Protests this weekend Just sick of the average person going along with this I feel like the only sane person (or maybe crazy) left Really tired of being told it’s my responsibility to fix this
I totally understand your fatigue at being told “you (me/we) need to do something to fix all this”. I’ve been doing my part to “fix this”. I vote. I write 100’s of “Get out the Vote” letters. I attend peaceful protests (obviously, before the last several days). I write letters to the editor - the LA Times and NYT - that get published, no less. I stay involved on Substacks of the most progressive, informed people out there - Thom Hartmann, Robert Reich, Heather Cox-Richardson, etc. I call my two Democratic senators (Schiff and Padilla) and my Rep. Kamlager-Dove, regularly, weekly. They’re dems, they don’t have control in Congress or the Senate….. what else am I supposed to do. This is a bad, bad, really bad cycle we’re in. I’m so beyond sick of the endless emails that clog my inbox daily imploring me to donate $5, $10, 2.70, any amount I can to beat back trump. James Carville is the worst. He bullies people into making them (me/ you/we) think that we’re trash if we don’t “step up to the plate”. I do. Really? I don’t need to worry about social security being gutted; if I rushed my donation to every single candidate and cause that clearly isn’t being supported by my hard earned tax dollars, I’d be broke in a matter of a few weeks, literally.
Ms. Schwarz, it almost seems as though all the Democratic party wants to do for the last couple years is ask for money from ordinary citizens. I too have sent what little I can afford to many Dem. politicians. I will never again send money to the Dem. party; only to individual politicians. And I just learned that 75 Democrat members of the House have openly supported ICE, Trump's Gestapo. Two of those politicians are people to whom I have sent money. Eugene Vindman and Janelle Bynum. What a disappointment. What a mistake! Never again. I shall back anyone who primaries them in the future. I am looking at the Workers Strike Party out of Seattle. They advocate all the correct policies for working people. They are not afraid of the word: socialist.
James Carville is an arrogant hater filled with nothing but contempt for his fellow citizens.
Mr. Solomon, I left the suffix off because I do not think the Dems. have been acting very democratic lately. I am not a Republican and I am to the left of the Dems.
Look for Justice Democrats on line. Sorry I do not know how to forward the info to you. Look also for Johnathan 'Boo and Vote' for the actual list of 75 names. Hope this helps.
This should do: https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-ice-gratitude-resolution-backlash-2084004 However, the support was for a resolution arising from the attack in Boulder. Still, in voting "yea" on the bill they appeared to support the federal government's actions in LA. Now we have to wait to see if the"nays" are branded as antisemites.
That is true of James Carville. I, too, will never send money to the Democratic Party. Look how much money Kamala Harris has in her post-election account. I think 9000 million. I feel as though they are stealing from the American people, and the pain of losing government-provided programs will be widespread.
I am aware of government-led theft and the measures people will take to obtain
what they want. Recently, all my emails and WORD documents were stolen by my neighbor. I use email to convey messages about the constant surveillance I observe around me and who is responsible. 'They' cross-referenced the subjects of the messages with what I had witnessed them doing. I wrote the truth.
I have to live with this decimation of my civil rights 24/7, and I refuse to perform in the privacy of my own home for these creeps on the off chance it will cast doubt on their opinion of me.
On Friday, May 30, 2025, Chris Hedges (Pulitzer Prize author), partnered with some of these individuals who had previously surveilled me in my home 24/7, where an optics set-up revealed me chit-chatting with a building contractor. Chris viewed the surveillance footage, which led him to say, "Carol was boring." And she drank some wine. So she is out.
Chris was purportedly here to introduce his new book. However, connections were arranged with St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Diego and KPFK in Oakland for Chris to view the surveillance. This man is a Presbyterian minister by training and a witness to genocides and other atrocities. Somehow, I would think that he would report on the egregious stamping of my civil rights instead of using tactics worthy of the Stasi to perpetuate abuse of me.
When I called the church about Chris's book presentation, scheduled for 7:00 PM, they informed me that it had been changed to a new venue. Then the person speaking in code, using bits of words and sounds (anyone I call is instantly aware it is me), said, "He is just reporting what he saw."
Individuals connected to the White House and Trump just gave a signal to the
media that he is accepting of turning against me. Dozens of people cut me off today, following me to ensure that the people I come into contact with are aware
of this group's efforts, and they had better not cross them. I stopped at my neighbor's house, and she was afraid to answer the door as they followed me to her house.
I think we are doing what our conscience and means allow but all with the overwhelming feeling of anger and helplessness fomented by the legions of legislators and constituents who think their selfish benefits and privilege are more important than the rule of law…and most disturbingly that they can only get their Christian Nationalist platform in place by destroying the very Constitution and law we depend on Yeah, Im primarily deeply sick, but I think the thing that kills me is the number of people who support this…so thank you for not being one of them! 😘
I believe with all of my being that we are far too gone to stop or somehow alter course. I'd feel embarrassed to suggest otherwise. This is yet another great burning down of yet another catastrophic civilization. All anyone can do is try to survive it - with hearts intact.
What does niilism look like? A nation with massive debt and swimming in credit. A nation unable to protect its citizens from pollutants, poisons, toxins, micro-plastics, rampant alcoholism and drug abuse, very visible homelessness while 10 times the number of homeless have empty units available. A nation that could not allow women the vote for 125 years, and still cannot pass a Voting Rights Amendment. A nation that overtly persecutes and ridicules anyone of any ilk that is not lily white in melanin, mostly protestant evangelical christian, and heterosexual. A nation that rips its land and water and air into filthy, useless shreds and destroys 96 percent of its wildlife, while engorging its citizens on mostly un-digestible, factory farm, and immensely costly beef and pig and chicken, costly in absolutely every way that the citizens cannot deal with - disease, toxicity, obesity, massive water loss, water pollution, etc. etc. A nation that cannot keep the onerous shadow of subjective religious fantasies out of its secular govt., and allows this fantasy to be inflicted on all those who do not share its unprovable claims of necessary obedience. A nation that allows a literal handful of mostly useless grifters to amass fortunes so huge that 100 million persons could not spend that fortune down to a modest, normal existence. A nation that consistently lies to itself about how marvelous it is compared to the rest of the world. And the next lies that claim that greatness, in spite of overwhelming empirical evidence that it is way down the list compared to nations a fraction of its size and without massive resources, is not to be questioned. A nation that literally WASTES gargantuan amounts of precious energy on selfish, frivolous, inefficient, and arrogant self-agrandizement while seriously crashing it national health and resource systems.
I could go on and on. It is apparent, is it not, that this nation has always been in bed with fascism, while pimping its citizenry into believing they are free and blessed and guarded over by a constitution that will never let them down. To me, we have been fascistic since day one, when we first murdered the First Nations folk who took us in, while we offloaded Black African slaves to do the real work of building this nation. Had enough of Any Type of Leadership YET?????
That's not nihilism; nihilism is the belief that life is without meaning, devoid of values and morals. In actuality, we are experiencing its diametrical antithesis: we are meant to be sacrificial cogs in Massa's Great Golden. House on the Hill. We are told which version of God to worship (and woe betide anybody who opts for the wrong one, or many, or none). We are indoctrinated from birth (conception?) into belief structures (the Only True Values) which we strive to adhere to with the faithfulness of the brainwashed. So no, we are many things but not nihilists. Tools and True Believers are never nihilists.
I disagree, with respect. Nihilism is nothingness, no values, no attachments, to non-attachments, pure parasitism. We are told, as you say, many things. Are we not agency enough to pursue their validity? The very point of nihilism is that NO THING has validity, only appetite, only the destruction of MEANING. All is nothing. Nothing is everything. That is what we have been herded into accepting, the other choice being annihilated, by whatever means is available. I do not know what you mean by tools or true believers, so I cannot extrapolate that. I appreciate the dialogue. Thx.
My position is "nihilism is the belief that life is without meaning, devoid of values and morals." while yours is "Nihilism is nothingness, no values, no attachments, to non-attachments, pure parasitism" It seems similar to me. In re "parasitism", did you mean that or "pragmatism"?
Nihilism isn't pure nothingness because it doesn't deny the self, rather it appears as solipsism.
Or so I think, quite possibly incorrectly, Descartes' Demon never being far away.
We are in sync. Parasitism is correct. Self-aggrandizement, as blind survival. Nihilism, as you say does not deny the self of parasitism, because a parasitic behavior is only self-serving. DesCartes, yes, the demon of demons, the psychotic break of reality to nothingness, except, of course, self, which is still nothing, since nothing else exists except self. Isolation, in the brain, is the worst terror known to humans. I quenches all knowing, and all relativity.
We can play with these concepts till twilight. Nihilism equates, to me, with no value, not no things. It is remarkably simple to destroy some thing that has no value. But we digress too much, i fear. We, concrete or illusionary, are at least energetics stating some reality, even if nothing more than our unsubstantiated 'self.' Can imaginings or dreams exist without corollaries? I simply do not know, beyond the bounds of logic. Long ago, I attempted to write a MS thesis on the limits to logic, in terms of the ethical responsibilities of science. My committee, with 2 exceptions, said this was impossible to go beyond. But Bergson and Bradley and de Chardin and Nagel gave me pause to pursue this. My committee would not let me finish the thesis. Today, this thesis is at the heart of the darkness that threatens us.
Actually Mr. Herreshoff, although I usually agree with you, this time, perhaps there is room for some doubt about the issue of nihilism. This country has about 17k+ murders each year and about 50k suicides [rough figures]. This looks as though we have a powerful force of anomie in our country. This is a consequence of nihilism. More of us would rather end their own life, than the number of us who want to take someone else's life. This was first discussed by the brilliant French social thinker Emile Durkheim in his 1889 book SUICIDE. His view was subsequently verified by empirical evidence in the work of the American Harvey Brenner about a century later when Brenner was at Johns Hopkins. Another source is from the perceptive Canadian anthropologist Elliott Leyton in his unique 1986 book HUNTING HUMANS. You might also want to read Leyton's book about children who murder their parents; although I think the Hunting Humans book is more important in its advancement of social theory. The work of both Leyton and Durkheim gave birth to new intellectual, scholarly disciplines. Durkheim was the true father of Sociology and Leyton gave birth to an entirely new, almost unique theory of Criminology. Although it must be recognized that Leyton gives credit to Durkheim in the last chapter of Hunting Humans.
First, please think of me as Robert. It's fine to disagree with me; eventually I sometimes do as well. Anomie is not synonymous with nihilism. Although on certain levels they may appear to be identical, nihilism is philosophical and therefore deliberative in nature, the belief that the world is devoid of meaning and values: kit is a choice. Anomie, on the other hand, is non volitional, caused by a heightened emotional sense of detachment arising from a perceived or actual breakdown of societal or personal norms and values. Although it is not an actual psychological condition it closely mirrors depression, anxiety and personality disorders. In literature, Camus' Mersault in The Stranger would be an example of anomie whereas Raskolnikov is a classic example of nihilism.
Robert, thank you for your thoughtful response. I have never seen anyone compare anomie and nihilism as you did. I do not argue with your comparison, as you stated it. I do not believe anomie and nihilism to be synonymous. I think they are related.
Your description of anomie is right in line with the commonly accepted idea of it. However, the man who first translate Durkheim for English reading audiences [I think it was George Simpson, I read the work years ago.] stated in his introduction of his first edition that he had a difficult time translating Durkheim's anomie. He said it was necessary for him to go to Renaissance sources to find help. The word anomia in Greek means without laws, or as we would say today, normlessness. This is the usually accepted meaning of what Durkheim meant.
However, I think there is a fly in the ointment here. Durkheim's education was the classic preparation for a rabbi. He was well versed in the ancient myths of Judaism. He might well have been referring to the ancient jewish myth of the lover who poked out her partner's eyes for his unfaithfulness to her. Her partner was then blind to all around him. It is possible Durkheim meant that some people are blind to the reasons normal people have for living. Someone who sees no reason to live is likely to end their life...Sui-cide. Sui, meaning itself, one's own life, and cide as in homicide.
What Durkheim might have been saying is that there can be strong forces in society which prevent people from learning the common reasons for humans to go on living. If one fails to learn these reasons for living, life is too painful to go on. One commits suicide. This assumes that Humans are not born with an inherent reason to go on living. One must learn those things through contact with fellow human beings. Subhuman animals might be born with an inherent "desire" or "drive" to live. But humans are not. We learn those "desires" through our contact with other humans. And our contact with other humans is symbolic, through our language ability. An ability unique to humans.
There is an entire social theory about human behavior developed from this assumption about our symbolic-liguistic contact with others. It is called Symbolic Interactionism.
The only way to check on what Durkheim really meant by his borrowing of the term Anomia, is to read most of the issues of the academic journal Annee which he edited for many years. This is way beyond my schoolboy French. So this task must be left to a more literate scholar than I. Preferably a native-speaking French scholar.
I have no issue with Durkheim, who I readily admit I haven't thought much of since I took first-year sociology 60 years ago (temps fugit, etc). I have always been more drawn to psychology, a subject which I am almost equally ignorant of. Regardless, thanks for the schooling.
Anomie - isolation in the extreme. What carries more terror than the absence of relativity to any other beingness with which to define oneself? THIS is the mindless, feckless, once-removed elimination of life carried out by bullies and their fawning and rage-filled sycophants.
I have managed to make both your, Gerald's, and my comments on nihilism disappear —such clever ham-fisted fingers... Picking up, I'm not sure we actually disagree regarding what nihilism is in that I aver that it is a philosophical state that holds that life is pointless, devoid of values and morals. As for what I recall, you said "with respect". I consider your comment to be nothing but. Always agreeing leads to the stagnation of thought so I will always appreciate well-reasoned disagreement snd have no problem accepting that I may be in error. Never too late to learn.
Yes, you are correct. Not surprising, only disappointing. Tragedy follows most humans like stink on shit. We can opt out, but we must have some more synchronous reality to blend into. I am immersed in the quantum field, and use entanglement to guide me. I have no answers, but also no questions. this time is truly leaps of consciousness, not faith. Faith is grasping, and Buddha had a few observations as to the practice of that fear. Float and fly, keep your hara, your one point center, and blend and harmonize with what you can know are true notes in the next symphony.
In order to acknowledge no thing, nothingness, there can be no observer to acknowledge nothing to observe. Buddha, that great awareness center, cast his net far and wide. He found being amidst nothingness, not as permanent, but as impermanent, which, in itself, implies another impermanent observation. We all know what we are experiencing, even nothingness. I thank all of you for a tremendous cohort of minds and spirits.
The state that the Buddha points to is beyond description. In the process of acknowledging no thing there must be an acknowledger, a paradox. At that point one (there's the rub) is precisely where one was at the outset, wading through the samsaric swamp, the difference being that one actually believes something has been attained, a difficult delusion to shed.. in the end, you literally can't get there from here: there is neither you nor there.
Yes, some nothing to settle softly into while waiting for Godot. The ultimate weakness of language is that it is simile, or metaphor, or a chimera. As my thesis attempted to show, beyond being is nothing ness, still a thing, just no thing. Bradley postulated that there is reality, and seeming reality. Bergson just jumped the language barrier and went into a priori reckonings. Nagel simply said that altruism can be attained via prudence, and that there is no 'gap' between being and nothingness. It is either this, or Lord of the Flies. Maybe both, huh?
Move fast and break things on the road to fascism.
How's that working for Musk, the budget, or the Administration? Elon saved nothing when you offset the cuts with what it cost to rehire where DOGE screwed up. It caused death and illness with more to come. There will be consequences.
The information they have stockpiled was the real goal; it is going to be used. Let's hope they are inept with it as well.
Just like an abusive spouse, our psychopathic President wants to isolate us from our allies, relatives, and neighbors. That's the place to fight back---keep the communication going wherever you can. Connect. Gather information, pass it on, and share the love. It is Thom and Company's super-power.
WE MUST SHOW THE WORLD WHO WE ARE! See you in the streets.
It may have seemed like cat feet to some but many/most on the left heard the unmistakable sound of jackboots marching in lockstep up Pennsylvania Avenue.
Sadly I agree, and "The Sound of Music" shows this process very well. Max didn't like the Nazis but knew he couldn't stop them, so learned how to get along with what they wanted. Rolf joined them for a little power. Von Trapp and his family left. Meanwhile Austria disappeared as a country for 7 years. There was some serious organized resistance, not shown except humorously as small sabotage by nuns, but much of the society just went along with how things were.
You had that division in France too where despite all the stories of the heroic (and they were) French resistance, in some colonial areas British and U.S. forces had bloody battles with army and naval forces loyal to the Vichy government. And the government ran because most people just stayed at their jobs.
So based on these examples I think that is what we can expect here. There will be a lot of opposition, but most people will go along to get along, and some will revel in their little bit of power. But given Trump's history, sooner rather than later he'll turn on those he no longer needs. And despite all the historical evidence of such events they'll still be surprised.
M$M: Malignant $upine Media. ABC evidently just fired Terry Moran for accurately describing Stephen Miller - you know, the kind of thing reporters are expected to do. The Big 3 repeatedly fail to honor the implied duties assigned to them, quite specifically, in the 1st Amendment. Anticipatory acquiescence subverts the public need for critical information. “The market” won’t solve this one, either.
Why are the rich going along with Trump? American has been the envy of the world for our stability! Don’t they realize that Trump’s actions will cause the dollar to lose being the global currency? They could lose half of their fortune or more when that happens! Should be a reason to turn the wealthy against Trump. A lot of people voted for him solely to prevent paying more taxes. Losing global currency is going to cause them to lose much more than higher taxes. When will they stop being so greedy and realize a stable nation with a strong middle class and safety nets for the poor is better for everyone. As much as I dislike saying it we need the rich and powerful on our side. So make signs this weekend saying Trump is going to make the dollar lose its status as the most stable currency!
The obliteration of the middle class starkly spotlights the uber-rich in their impenetrable bubble. They don't care about anything or anyone (there are exceptions such as Bezos' and Gates' ex-wives. They will continue to hire their own doctors, fly their own jets, etc....
They care about their money and stand to have their worth go down drastically if the dollar isn’t the preferred currency. China and Russia have been working to change that.
Mr. Solomon, the third rate actor Ronald Raygun was quite clear about why he favored immigration from Mexico when he was governor of California. He almost said out loud that only a Mexican can do that backbreaking work in agriculture, for very low wages. His wealthy supporters in the industrialized food business loved him. At that time Agriculture and military/military-related were the two biggest commercial enterprises in the state. Still are, if you consider the electronics industry to be largely military dependent.
You're thinking of another actor, George Murphy, who was senator from California from 1965 to 1971, To paraphrase him, Mexicans made better farm workers because since they were shorter it was easier for them to do stoop labor.
I held DOL hearings re agricultural visas. Many California farmers work through labor pools.
The H-2A visa program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), allows U.S. employers to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs. These jobs typically last no longer than one year. To use the H-2A program, employers must first obtain a temporary labor certification from the DOL, demonstrating that there are not enough U.S. workers available for the job and that employing H-2A workers will not negatively impact the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
I once lived in Fresno, the figuarive and literal armpit of California. Largest agricultural area in the world. Many of the workers were Chicanos but many were Asian, from the Middle East and even places like Portugal and Spain. We had a treaty withthe Hmong, and brought about 50,000 of them to the San Juaquin Valley. We were the defacto capitol of Armenia.
When I lived in Fresno I wrote policy over citizenship issues, re Mexico. In 1848 we took most of the west via the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, which gives Mexican citizens rights in the US. Some of the Chicanos, even today, do not know where they were born. Many were children of migrants. If they were born in the US, they are citizens, but have to be able to prove it.
I worked for SSA when Reagan signed the bills that the MAGA complain about. He granted illegals amnesty and set up a path to citizenship for many of them. Many permanent residents, even from the 80's, remain in the US. Have not sought citizenship.
Libertarians have always been for open borders. Many of the farms are now corporate owned, and if you check their lineage can be traced to Koch and their allies.
Virtually all the lawyers that represented the labor pools in my cases started as lawyers at DOL, under the tutedge of say, my former boss, Elaine Chao, once Secretary of Labor, wife of Mitch McConnell.
The accusation is that many of the pools don't follow the law and the employers don't hold them to produce I-8 forms and other authority. We had a category of penaty cases -- I could debar some employers for continuing violations.
It's crazy that Americans who are screwed out of jobs haven't been suing employers who hire aliens under our DOL discrimination statutes. Most lawyers are ignorant that this stujff exits. I assume that Trump has killed them as DEI.
People are not facing just how close Trump is to taking over. They either do not want to or cannot admit the full depth of his evil. Getting over this reticence is our only hope of overcoming the full measure of his threat.
Trump wants total power. To get total power, he has only one option: To impose Martial Law. This will not only crack the whole country wide open for him to pillage and loot, but it will enable him to cancel elections—which will not go well for him considering the massive unpopularity of him and his administration
To get Martial Law, he needs chaos in the streets. His imposition of Federal troops in L.A. is calculated to incite protests to violence, and he has been accomplishing that goal. He is claiming that the protests are being incited by paid, outside aggitators. “Very bad, bad people.” Has it occurred to no one that Trump regularly acuses others of what he is guity of? If there are outside agitators, he is sending them.
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The chaos in L.A. will need to be exported to other states. conviently, when he federalized the California National Guard, he extended it to all 50 states. He is beginning with the Blue states he hates. My guess is that Minnesota is next. He already did a test run on Sunday by sending in Federal law enforcement, complete with armored vehicles rolling down a main street in a Latino district, supposedly to make some drug cartel or human trafficing arrests. Next it will be ICE raids. The community is already totally agitated.
But he needs more mayhem yet. I am expecting that he will not hesitate to order the Federal troops to live fire on protesters that are throwing rocks or interfering with an ICE raid. That will, I believe, escalate the degree of protests nation-wide.
Once he gets a lot of rioting going, he can send his Proud Boys and Oath Keepers (who are standing by, remember) to clash with the protesters. This is the exact tactic Hitler used to declare Martial Law and take over Germany. There will be brawling in the streets, and Trump will have a clear path to Martial Law.
One would think that all this would arouse such anger on the part of the American people that they would just clog the streets until Trump just gave up and went to live in Saudi Arabia. But Trump has a back up plan to keep them out of the streets. All the data that Musk was able to steel from all the agencies he invaded has been combined into a single data base that has a record of every interaction every citizen has had with the Federal government—meaning everyone. He knows who’s receiving social security, who is depending on student loans, who could have their taxes audited. Threat of loss of livelihood will keep people controlled and off the streets.
Of course, Trump’s authoritarian control does not stop there, but I hope this is enough to make people realize the depth of the psychopathic mind we are dealing with. But I should mention that there is one, and only one, strength that we have in this Pandora's box of evils that can overcome all this, and it isn’t hope. IT IS NON VIOLENCE. NON VIOLENT RESISTANCE WILL KEEP THE PUBLIC’S BLAME ON THE PERPETRATOR AND THEIR SYMPATHY ON THE VICTIMS WHO WILL BE SEEN AS PEOPLE SACRIFICING FOR AN IMPORTANT CAUSE. But will the American people be able to show the self-restraint necessary to maintain non violence in the face of attack? I doubt it. But who knows. Maybe some form of leadership will emerge that brings all the diverse factions together and shepherds us to safety. I’ve already updated my passport.
The big hole in the presumptions that support democracy is that the leaders we choose will be honorable enough to adhere to a mere oath and follow the law as well as make the law. As it turns out, Trump knows nothing about politics, is contemptuous of democracy, oaths, and truth.
Mr. Hobbs, I think you might be talking about NORMS: the commonly accepted, informal rules of proper and improper behavior. There is very little which is commonly accepted and approved, about Trump's behavior.
Or am I wrong about this? After all, about half the voters went for trump, twice. Have we, as a country, changed so much?
Great facts. I want to stand up and cheer…. And I am simply going nuts over the simple fact that Americans are simple, not educated, easily subdued with casual entrapment (cell phones), Polly Anna’d to the core so that demanding they get the support of their courts and their military doesn’t occur. They do not know what the Constitution says or could do.
They do not know what the three branches of their government are supposed to do. Those in the three branches seem not to know either.
This is the real crisis. Those of us who have learned to think and to digest truth over lies are writing to one another and hoping that teaches everyone. This scares me more than anything. And yes, I am busy writing just to get the fear out of my gut and to dump it on anyone who understands.
Thank you Mr. Hartmann for knowing more than most of us and for sharing it. It pray it gets put on the Big Screen of public awareness before another day passes.
Yes Thom, please continue to scare the sh*t out of us. The question is how do you do that to the other side?
Only if one is really scared shitless, does one get off their ass and fight back, otherwise liberals are known for their open mindedness, passivity, kumbaya, until they are rounded up and shoved into a van.
This is an obvious pretext.
Still waiting to see what's happening to the BIG CRAPPY bill, which is his number one priority.
IMHO Trump looks nutsy koo koo and needs to be evaluated for involutary civil commitment. A discussion of his mental state should be the predicate for every tactical policy decision he's been making. The media should be asking: IS HE NUTS?
All we can do is take advantage of what we have. I'm grateful for any substantiation of Trump's mens rea.
What's happening with the senate parlimentarian? Senate Republicans are expected to closely follow the guidance of parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough as they embark on the “Byrd bath” in the coming weeks, with noncompliant provisions sometimes referred to as “Byrd droppings.”
What's happenng with stuff like Medicaid cuts, that undermine his support in red states?
There also will be a trial in LA -- and now maybe Omaha -- that can cut this off. Newsom filed a complaint.
I'm hoping that there are Califorinia Congressional Republicans -- there are 9 of them-- that know the rationale for this -- danger of invasion by a foreign nation; there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States -- is BS and will step forward.
Can call "adverse witnesses." Call Homan to the stand. Local Republican politicians.
I don't know this as a fact, but I bet the protesters have been infiltrated like the crowds were during the George Floyd protests. He who smelled it dealt it. https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/110775/documents/HHRG-116-JU00-20200610-SD019.pdf
"Protestors" can be scanned via face recognition. Hopefully local police can spot some of them.
Doubting the sanity of The Glorious Leader will present you with two options: 1) Being stripped of your citizenship and sent to El Salvador for soul-searching in some gulag; 2) Gaining admission to the neighborhood reeducation center, where you'll be cellmates with Winston Smith and surveilled 24/7. Admittedly, not much of a choice but the inevitable price of inaction now. Oh, and there there's always the wall.
Some of us had this figured out during his first term, and before. Sadly, far too many did not.
So soon we forget. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdstZDCCgAc
https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1932607479516410291
My wife keeps saying, maybe we should leave the country. But we are not wealthy. It’s not so easy to do something like that when we own a home and have jobs and our children live here. We will be protesting on Saturday. I think we’re gonna have to live through whatever this is and becomes.
We need to keep protesting as much as possible. Thom is correct; it is escalating. Thanks for your article today, it is right on as usual. I have been living this for more than two decades, 24/7, a personal targeting of me for nothing but slander and revenge, and I can't even take them to court to establish I have done nothing illegal. Additionally, if I call a lawyer for a consultation, they refuse because they don't want the surveillance on their business. Billy, leaving the country for regular citizens would be doable, but with all you have invested here, it doesn't make sense, at least not yet. I can't move because it follows me - government-sanctioned. I agree with William Farrar here; it is too late, and he articulates the signs very clearly.
It is already too late. Our erstwhile political leaders, have waffled, hesitated, equivocated, our corporate media has surrendered years ago. Pacifists and cowards are hiding in the ditches, afraid to stick their heads up, for fear of having them cut off.
The enemy is hopium, (hope plus opium). Trust in the institutions and the intelligence, common sense and good will of your fellow Americans, and all will be well, a knight in shiny armor, a hero will emerge that will save us, so long as we behave and comply.
I wish the planned nationwide protests well on June 14th, but expect nothing of them, at best Trump an d the media (except for Rachel Maddow) will ignore them, at worst Proud Boy agitators will create enough damage and violence to justify Trump repeating his act in LA.
Dust off your passport, (probably too late to request one, takes a month or two anyway)
Belize speaks English, welcomes Americans and has cheap if not exceptional health care. For those on Social security., unless you keep your bank account and direct deposit.
If you are a citizen of one of the countries listed below, your Social Security payments will keep coming no matter how long you stay outside the U.S., as long as you are eligible for the payments.
Austria Hungary Poland
Belgium Iceland Portugal
Brazil Ireland Slovak Republic
Canada Israel Slovenia
Chile Italy Spain
Czech Republic Japan Sweden
Finland Korea (South) Switzerland
France Luxembourg United Kingdom
Germany Netherlands Uruguay
For me Uruguay looks good. The national food is pizza, and I speak Spanish.
Uruguay is predominantly a Spanish-speaking country. Spanish is the official language and is spoken by the vast majority of the population. While Italian immigration has significantly influenced Uruguayan culture and language, Spanish remains the dominant language.
NOT TOO LATE.
National protests on Saturday.
And Sunday, and Monday, and...
Getting used to Gestapo raids is, of course, essential to fascist rule. However, Trump's government thuggery has an additional purpose. It sends a clear message that resistance is useless. The regime will always come for you without warning and in force.
Also, we do not need all these prisons Trump is creating to enable immigrant deportations. They will eventually house free labor for our oligarchs.
Finally, the reason we have an administration staffed exclusively by incompetent people is to enable dictatorship. The cabinet has to do what it is told, because they haven't a clue how to do their jobs.
According to guys like Trump, my people, i.e. OSHA, were like the Gestapo. He was the poster boy for "employer sanctions" for hiring illegals to work on his job sites. Had to pay fines and make restitution. As a result, he uses temporary foreign workers on his properties to displace Americans.
For some, raids like these have been ongoing since the GWB administration.
From my perspective, had they wanted to cut off illegal employment, they'd attack employers who hire "under the tabe," paying substandard wages, avoiding liability for workers' compensation, IRS and SS taxes, etc. Ironically the center of the universe for employers breaking immigration laws are places like Home Depot parking lots.....
How do we stand up to this?! My government representatives are all on board with Trump…spreading the lies about the big bill, etc Gov DeSantis is doing his best to mirror the ugliness and hurt of Trump He’s taken over the higher education system now with the help of intentionally placed suck ups on college boards I’m so f…ing angry that our government run by laws is ignored willfully by the elected and we can do nothing Yes I have called and written to Gus Bilrakis, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody Based on responses and their fictional newsletters, this is a waste of time And yes, I’m headed to a couple of No Kings Protests this weekend Just sick of the average person going along with this I feel like the only sane person (or maybe crazy) left Really tired of being told it’s my responsibility to fix this
I totally understand your fatigue at being told “you (me/we) need to do something to fix all this”. I’ve been doing my part to “fix this”. I vote. I write 100’s of “Get out the Vote” letters. I attend peaceful protests (obviously, before the last several days). I write letters to the editor - the LA Times and NYT - that get published, no less. I stay involved on Substacks of the most progressive, informed people out there - Thom Hartmann, Robert Reich, Heather Cox-Richardson, etc. I call my two Democratic senators (Schiff and Padilla) and my Rep. Kamlager-Dove, regularly, weekly. They’re dems, they don’t have control in Congress or the Senate….. what else am I supposed to do. This is a bad, bad, really bad cycle we’re in. I’m so beyond sick of the endless emails that clog my inbox daily imploring me to donate $5, $10, 2.70, any amount I can to beat back trump. James Carville is the worst. He bullies people into making them (me/ you/we) think that we’re trash if we don’t “step up to the plate”. I do. Really? I don’t need to worry about social security being gutted; if I rushed my donation to every single candidate and cause that clearly isn’t being supported by my hard earned tax dollars, I’d be broke in a matter of a few weeks, literally.
Ms. Schwarz, it almost seems as though all the Democratic party wants to do for the last couple years is ask for money from ordinary citizens. I too have sent what little I can afford to many Dem. politicians. I will never again send money to the Dem. party; only to individual politicians. And I just learned that 75 Democrat members of the House have openly supported ICE, Trump's Gestapo. Two of those politicians are people to whom I have sent money. Eugene Vindman and Janelle Bynum. What a disappointment. What a mistake! Never again. I shall back anyone who primaries them in the future. I am looking at the Workers Strike Party out of Seattle. They advocate all the correct policies for working people. They are not afraid of the word: socialist.
James Carville is an arrogant hater filled with nothing but contempt for his fellow citizens.
"75 Democrat members." Republicrats speak that way. Cite.
Mr. Solomon, I left the suffix off because I do not think the Dems. have been acting very democratic lately. I am not a Republican and I am to the left of the Dems.
Look for Justice Democrats on line. Sorry I do not know how to forward the info to you. Look also for Johnathan 'Boo and Vote' for the actual list of 75 names. Hope this helps.
I think you're susceptible to psy ops. This isn't the first time.... the enemy is MAGA.
We are a minority party. We have to unite ... and because we have't MAGATs have prevailed.
Unlike most of you, I personally think there was nothing wrong with DNC policy or tactics in 2024. We wuz robbed.
This should do: https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-ice-gratitude-resolution-backlash-2084004 However, the support was for a resolution arising from the attack in Boulder. Still, in voting "yea" on the bill they appeared to support the federal government's actions in LA. Now we have to wait to see if the"nays" are branded as antisemites.
Apples and oranges, not contemporaneous, not relevant and just a resolution. BS.
You asked for a citation, I gave you one. If the answer is BS why isn't the request?
That is true of James Carville. I, too, will never send money to the Democratic Party. Look how much money Kamala Harris has in her post-election account. I think 9000 million. I feel as though they are stealing from the American people, and the pain of losing government-provided programs will be widespread.
I am aware of government-led theft and the measures people will take to obtain
what they want. Recently, all my emails and WORD documents were stolen by my neighbor. I use email to convey messages about the constant surveillance I observe around me and who is responsible. 'They' cross-referenced the subjects of the messages with what I had witnessed them doing. I wrote the truth.
I have to live with this decimation of my civil rights 24/7, and I refuse to perform in the privacy of my own home for these creeps on the off chance it will cast doubt on their opinion of me.
On Friday, May 30, 2025, Chris Hedges (Pulitzer Prize author), partnered with some of these individuals who had previously surveilled me in my home 24/7, where an optics set-up revealed me chit-chatting with a building contractor. Chris viewed the surveillance footage, which led him to say, "Carol was boring." And she drank some wine. So she is out.
Chris was purportedly here to introduce his new book. However, connections were arranged with St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Diego and KPFK in Oakland for Chris to view the surveillance. This man is a Presbyterian minister by training and a witness to genocides and other atrocities. Somehow, I would think that he would report on the egregious stamping of my civil rights instead of using tactics worthy of the Stasi to perpetuate abuse of me.
When I called the church about Chris's book presentation, scheduled for 7:00 PM, they informed me that it had been changed to a new venue. Then the person speaking in code, using bits of words and sounds (anyone I call is instantly aware it is me), said, "He is just reporting what he saw."
Individuals connected to the White House and Trump just gave a signal to the
media that he is accepting of turning against me. Dozens of people cut me off today, following me to ensure that the people I come into contact with are aware
of this group's efforts, and they had better not cross them. I stopped at my neighbor's house, and she was afraid to answer the door as they followed me to her house.
I think we are doing what our conscience and means allow but all with the overwhelming feeling of anger and helplessness fomented by the legions of legislators and constituents who think their selfish benefits and privilege are more important than the rule of law…and most disturbingly that they can only get their Christian Nationalist platform in place by destroying the very Constitution and law we depend on Yeah, Im primarily deeply sick, but I think the thing that kills me is the number of people who support this…so thank you for not being one of them! 😘
Yeah, and there is a sense of being scammed from every angle That’s fucking Trump’s doing
Oh, he's not alone, nor is this the exclusive domain of the right.
I believe with all of my being that we are far too gone to stop or somehow alter course. I'd feel embarrassed to suggest otherwise. This is yet another great burning down of yet another catastrophic civilization. All anyone can do is try to survive it - with hearts intact.
Yes, it's hard to digest that this is a manmade disaster....
That is exactly what they want us to feel.
What does niilism look like? A nation with massive debt and swimming in credit. A nation unable to protect its citizens from pollutants, poisons, toxins, micro-plastics, rampant alcoholism and drug abuse, very visible homelessness while 10 times the number of homeless have empty units available. A nation that could not allow women the vote for 125 years, and still cannot pass a Voting Rights Amendment. A nation that overtly persecutes and ridicules anyone of any ilk that is not lily white in melanin, mostly protestant evangelical christian, and heterosexual. A nation that rips its land and water and air into filthy, useless shreds and destroys 96 percent of its wildlife, while engorging its citizens on mostly un-digestible, factory farm, and immensely costly beef and pig and chicken, costly in absolutely every way that the citizens cannot deal with - disease, toxicity, obesity, massive water loss, water pollution, etc. etc. A nation that cannot keep the onerous shadow of subjective religious fantasies out of its secular govt., and allows this fantasy to be inflicted on all those who do not share its unprovable claims of necessary obedience. A nation that allows a literal handful of mostly useless grifters to amass fortunes so huge that 100 million persons could not spend that fortune down to a modest, normal existence. A nation that consistently lies to itself about how marvelous it is compared to the rest of the world. And the next lies that claim that greatness, in spite of overwhelming empirical evidence that it is way down the list compared to nations a fraction of its size and without massive resources, is not to be questioned. A nation that literally WASTES gargantuan amounts of precious energy on selfish, frivolous, inefficient, and arrogant self-agrandizement while seriously crashing it national health and resource systems.
I could go on and on. It is apparent, is it not, that this nation has always been in bed with fascism, while pimping its citizenry into believing they are free and blessed and guarded over by a constitution that will never let them down. To me, we have been fascistic since day one, when we first murdered the First Nations folk who took us in, while we offloaded Black African slaves to do the real work of building this nation. Had enough of Any Type of Leadership YET?????
That's not nihilism; nihilism is the belief that life is without meaning, devoid of values and morals. In actuality, we are experiencing its diametrical antithesis: we are meant to be sacrificial cogs in Massa's Great Golden. House on the Hill. We are told which version of God to worship (and woe betide anybody who opts for the wrong one, or many, or none). We are indoctrinated from birth (conception?) into belief structures (the Only True Values) which we strive to adhere to with the faithfulness of the brainwashed. So no, we are many things but not nihilists. Tools and True Believers are never nihilists.
I disagree, with respect. Nihilism is nothingness, no values, no attachments, to non-attachments, pure parasitism. We are told, as you say, many things. Are we not agency enough to pursue their validity? The very point of nihilism is that NO THING has validity, only appetite, only the destruction of MEANING. All is nothing. Nothing is everything. That is what we have been herded into accepting, the other choice being annihilated, by whatever means is available. I do not know what you mean by tools or true believers, so I cannot extrapolate that. I appreciate the dialogue. Thx.
My position is "nihilism is the belief that life is without meaning, devoid of values and morals." while yours is "Nihilism is nothingness, no values, no attachments, to non-attachments, pure parasitism" It seems similar to me. In re "parasitism", did you mean that or "pragmatism"?
Nihilism isn't pure nothingness because it doesn't deny the self, rather it appears as solipsism.
Or so I think, quite possibly incorrectly, Descartes' Demon never being far away.
We are in sync. Parasitism is correct. Self-aggrandizement, as blind survival. Nihilism, as you say does not deny the self of parasitism, because a parasitic behavior is only self-serving. DesCartes, yes, the demon of demons, the psychotic break of reality to nothingness, except, of course, self, which is still nothing, since nothing else exists except self. Isolation, in the brain, is the worst terror known to humans. I quenches all knowing, and all relativity.
if nihilism equates with nothingness what is there to parasitize? At that point doesn't one need an other?
We can play with these concepts till twilight. Nihilism equates, to me, with no value, not no things. It is remarkably simple to destroy some thing that has no value. But we digress too much, i fear. We, concrete or illusionary, are at least energetics stating some reality, even if nothing more than our unsubstantiated 'self.' Can imaginings or dreams exist without corollaries? I simply do not know, beyond the bounds of logic. Long ago, I attempted to write a MS thesis on the limits to logic, in terms of the ethical responsibilities of science. My committee, with 2 exceptions, said this was impossible to go beyond. But Bergson and Bradley and de Chardin and Nagel gave me pause to pursue this. My committee would not let me finish the thesis. Today, this thesis is at the heart of the darkness that threatens us.
Actually Mr. Herreshoff, although I usually agree with you, this time, perhaps there is room for some doubt about the issue of nihilism. This country has about 17k+ murders each year and about 50k suicides [rough figures]. This looks as though we have a powerful force of anomie in our country. This is a consequence of nihilism. More of us would rather end their own life, than the number of us who want to take someone else's life. This was first discussed by the brilliant French social thinker Emile Durkheim in his 1889 book SUICIDE. His view was subsequently verified by empirical evidence in the work of the American Harvey Brenner about a century later when Brenner was at Johns Hopkins. Another source is from the perceptive Canadian anthropologist Elliott Leyton in his unique 1986 book HUNTING HUMANS. You might also want to read Leyton's book about children who murder their parents; although I think the Hunting Humans book is more important in its advancement of social theory. The work of both Leyton and Durkheim gave birth to new intellectual, scholarly disciplines. Durkheim was the true father of Sociology and Leyton gave birth to an entirely new, almost unique theory of Criminology. Although it must be recognized that Leyton gives credit to Durkheim in the last chapter of Hunting Humans.
First, please think of me as Robert. It's fine to disagree with me; eventually I sometimes do as well. Anomie is not synonymous with nihilism. Although on certain levels they may appear to be identical, nihilism is philosophical and therefore deliberative in nature, the belief that the world is devoid of meaning and values: kit is a choice. Anomie, on the other hand, is non volitional, caused by a heightened emotional sense of detachment arising from a perceived or actual breakdown of societal or personal norms and values. Although it is not an actual psychological condition it closely mirrors depression, anxiety and personality disorders. In literature, Camus' Mersault in The Stranger would be an example of anomie whereas Raskolnikov is a classic example of nihilism.
Robert, thank you for your thoughtful response. I have never seen anyone compare anomie and nihilism as you did. I do not argue with your comparison, as you stated it. I do not believe anomie and nihilism to be synonymous. I think they are related.
Your description of anomie is right in line with the commonly accepted idea of it. However, the man who first translate Durkheim for English reading audiences [I think it was George Simpson, I read the work years ago.] stated in his introduction of his first edition that he had a difficult time translating Durkheim's anomie. He said it was necessary for him to go to Renaissance sources to find help. The word anomia in Greek means without laws, or as we would say today, normlessness. This is the usually accepted meaning of what Durkheim meant.
However, I think there is a fly in the ointment here. Durkheim's education was the classic preparation for a rabbi. He was well versed in the ancient myths of Judaism. He might well have been referring to the ancient jewish myth of the lover who poked out her partner's eyes for his unfaithfulness to her. Her partner was then blind to all around him. It is possible Durkheim meant that some people are blind to the reasons normal people have for living. Someone who sees no reason to live is likely to end their life...Sui-cide. Sui, meaning itself, one's own life, and cide as in homicide.
What Durkheim might have been saying is that there can be strong forces in society which prevent people from learning the common reasons for humans to go on living. If one fails to learn these reasons for living, life is too painful to go on. One commits suicide. This assumes that Humans are not born with an inherent reason to go on living. One must learn those things through contact with fellow human beings. Subhuman animals might be born with an inherent "desire" or "drive" to live. But humans are not. We learn those "desires" through our contact with other humans. And our contact with other humans is symbolic, through our language ability. An ability unique to humans.
There is an entire social theory about human behavior developed from this assumption about our symbolic-liguistic contact with others. It is called Symbolic Interactionism.
The only way to check on what Durkheim really meant by his borrowing of the term Anomia, is to read most of the issues of the academic journal Annee which he edited for many years. This is way beyond my schoolboy French. So this task must be left to a more literate scholar than I. Preferably a native-speaking French scholar.
I have no issue with Durkheim, who I readily admit I haven't thought much of since I took first-year sociology 60 years ago (temps fugit, etc). I have always been more drawn to psychology, a subject which I am almost equally ignorant of. Regardless, thanks for the schooling.
Anomie - isolation in the extreme. What carries more terror than the absence of relativity to any other beingness with which to define oneself? THIS is the mindless, feckless, once-removed elimination of life carried out by bullies and their fawning and rage-filled sycophants.
Okay, I found the missing thread; it was one click away under show replies, an at best baffling comment.
I have managed to make both your, Gerald's, and my comments on nihilism disappear —such clever ham-fisted fingers... Picking up, I'm not sure we actually disagree regarding what nihilism is in that I aver that it is a philosophical state that holds that life is pointless, devoid of values and morals. As for what I recall, you said "with respect". I consider your comment to be nothing but. Always agreeing leads to the stagnation of thought so I will always appreciate well-reasoned disagreement snd have no problem accepting that I may be in error. Never too late to learn.
Mick, please see my response to Mr. Herreshoff's comment in this blog.
What you are describing Mick, is a dying empire: U.S.A.
Yes, you are correct. Not surprising, only disappointing. Tragedy follows most humans like stink on shit. We can opt out, but we must have some more synchronous reality to blend into. I am immersed in the quantum field, and use entanglement to guide me. I have no answers, but also no questions. this time is truly leaps of consciousness, not faith. Faith is grasping, and Buddha had a few observations as to the practice of that fear. Float and fly, keep your hara, your one point center, and blend and harmonize with what you can know are true notes in the next symphony.
Aber dein einiges Scheiße stinkt nicht! (Pretty much the last of my German from high school).
\
One of the Buddha's teachings is that there ultimately is no one to hold that one-point center, anatma, nor its there a center to hold.
To hear that next symphony!
In order to acknowledge no thing, nothingness, there can be no observer to acknowledge nothing to observe. Buddha, that great awareness center, cast his net far and wide. He found being amidst nothingness, not as permanent, but as impermanent, which, in itself, implies another impermanent observation. We all know what we are experiencing, even nothingness. I thank all of you for a tremendous cohort of minds and spirits.
The state that the Buddha points to is beyond description. In the process of acknowledging no thing there must be an acknowledger, a paradox. At that point one (there's the rub) is precisely where one was at the outset, wading through the samsaric swamp, the difference being that one actually believes something has been attained, a difficult delusion to shed.. in the end, you literally can't get there from here: there is neither you nor there.
Interesting problem.
Yes, some nothing to settle softly into while waiting for Godot. The ultimate weakness of language is that it is simile, or metaphor, or a chimera. As my thesis attempted to show, beyond being is nothing ness, still a thing, just no thing. Bradley postulated that there is reality, and seeming reality. Bergson just jumped the language barrier and went into a priori reckonings. Nagel simply said that altruism can be attained via prudence, and that there is no 'gap' between being and nothingness. It is either this, or Lord of the Flies. Maybe both, huh?
Should be "anatman"
Move fast and break things on the road to fascism.
How's that working for Musk, the budget, or the Administration? Elon saved nothing when you offset the cuts with what it cost to rehire where DOGE screwed up. It caused death and illness with more to come. There will be consequences.
The information they have stockpiled was the real goal; it is going to be used. Let's hope they are inept with it as well.
Just like an abusive spouse, our psychopathic President wants to isolate us from our allies, relatives, and neighbors. That's the place to fight back---keep the communication going wherever you can. Connect. Gather information, pass it on, and share the love. It is Thom and Company's super-power.
WE MUST SHOW THE WORLD WHO WE ARE! See you in the streets.
Yes, I too believe the "real"mission was to download any and all information on the masses.
It may have seemed like cat feet to some but many/most on the left heard the unmistakable sound of jackboots marching in lockstep up Pennsylvania Avenue.
Not unlike a deer. At dusk. Standing on a two-lane blacktop.
Watching the headlights of the approaching vehicle. Stock still.
Assuming that each revolution of the tires was the last revolution.
It must stop. I've never been hit. I've never been hurt. I've never died.
Until —
It ain't over yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=EFrpzPR6TLY
Sadly I agree, and "The Sound of Music" shows this process very well. Max didn't like the Nazis but knew he couldn't stop them, so learned how to get along with what they wanted. Rolf joined them for a little power. Von Trapp and his family left. Meanwhile Austria disappeared as a country for 7 years. There was some serious organized resistance, not shown except humorously as small sabotage by nuns, but much of the society just went along with how things were.
You had that division in France too where despite all the stories of the heroic (and they were) French resistance, in some colonial areas British and U.S. forces had bloody battles with army and naval forces loyal to the Vichy government. And the government ran because most people just stayed at their jobs.
So based on these examples I think that is what we can expect here. There will be a lot of opposition, but most people will go along to get along, and some will revel in their little bit of power. But given Trump's history, sooner rather than later he'll turn on those he no longer needs. And despite all the historical evidence of such events they'll still be surprised.
The fight is in the senate.
M$M: Malignant $upine Media. ABC evidently just fired Terry Moran for accurately describing Stephen Miller - you know, the kind of thing reporters are expected to do. The Big 3 repeatedly fail to honor the implied duties assigned to them, quite specifically, in the 1st Amendment. Anticipatory acquiescence subverts the public need for critical information. “The market” won’t solve this one, either.
Why are the rich going along with Trump? American has been the envy of the world for our stability! Don’t they realize that Trump’s actions will cause the dollar to lose being the global currency? They could lose half of their fortune or more when that happens! Should be a reason to turn the wealthy against Trump. A lot of people voted for him solely to prevent paying more taxes. Losing global currency is going to cause them to lose much more than higher taxes. When will they stop being so greedy and realize a stable nation with a strong middle class and safety nets for the poor is better for everyone. As much as I dislike saying it we need the rich and powerful on our side. So make signs this weekend saying Trump is going to make the dollar lose its status as the most stable currency!
The obliteration of the middle class starkly spotlights the uber-rich in their impenetrable bubble. They don't care about anything or anyone (there are exceptions such as Bezos' and Gates' ex-wives. They will continue to hire their own doctors, fly their own jets, etc....
They care about their money and stand to have their worth go down drastically if the dollar isn’t the preferred currency. China and Russia have been working to change that.
The extermely rich want open immigration to undermine union scale wages.
Meanwhile the Kochs and Federalist Society is suing Trump over tariffs. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/08/new-civil-liberties-alliance-lawsuit-trump-tariffs-china/82996118007/
Know thy enemy.
I don’t see them speaking out against Trump or talking about the dollar.
The lawsuit speaks billions.
Mr. Solomon, the third rate actor Ronald Raygun was quite clear about why he favored immigration from Mexico when he was governor of California. He almost said out loud that only a Mexican can do that backbreaking work in agriculture, for very low wages. His wealthy supporters in the industrialized food business loved him. At that time Agriculture and military/military-related were the two biggest commercial enterprises in the state. Still are, if you consider the electronics industry to be largely military dependent.
You're thinking of another actor, George Murphy, who was senator from California from 1965 to 1971, To paraphrase him, Mexicans made better farm workers because since they were shorter it was easier for them to do stoop labor.
I held DOL hearings re agricultural visas. Many California farmers work through labor pools.
The H-2A visa program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), allows U.S. employers to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs. These jobs typically last no longer than one year. To use the H-2A program, employers must first obtain a temporary labor certification from the DOL, demonstrating that there are not enough U.S. workers available for the job and that employing H-2A workers will not negatively impact the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
I once lived in Fresno, the figuarive and literal armpit of California. Largest agricultural area in the world. Many of the workers were Chicanos but many were Asian, from the Middle East and even places like Portugal and Spain. We had a treaty withthe Hmong, and brought about 50,000 of them to the San Juaquin Valley. We were the defacto capitol of Armenia.
When I lived in Fresno I wrote policy over citizenship issues, re Mexico. In 1848 we took most of the west via the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, which gives Mexican citizens rights in the US. Some of the Chicanos, even today, do not know where they were born. Many were children of migrants. If they were born in the US, they are citizens, but have to be able to prove it.
I worked for SSA when Reagan signed the bills that the MAGA complain about. He granted illegals amnesty and set up a path to citizenship for many of them. Many permanent residents, even from the 80's, remain in the US. Have not sought citizenship.
Libertarians have always been for open borders. Many of the farms are now corporate owned, and if you check their lineage can be traced to Koch and their allies.
Virtually all the lawyers that represented the labor pools in my cases started as lawyers at DOL, under the tutedge of say, my former boss, Elaine Chao, once Secretary of Labor, wife of Mitch McConnell.
The accusation is that many of the pools don't follow the law and the employers don't hold them to produce I-8 forms and other authority. We had a category of penaty cases -- I could debar some employers for continuing violations.
It's crazy that Americans who are screwed out of jobs haven't been suing employers who hire aliens under our DOL discrimination statutes. Most lawyers are ignorant that this stujff exits. I assume that Trump has killed them as DEI.
People are not facing just how close Trump is to taking over. They either do not want to or cannot admit the full depth of his evil. Getting over this reticence is our only hope of overcoming the full measure of his threat.
Trump wants total power. To get total power, he has only one option: To impose Martial Law. This will not only crack the whole country wide open for him to pillage and loot, but it will enable him to cancel elections—which will not go well for him considering the massive unpopularity of him and his administration
To get Martial Law, he needs chaos in the streets. His imposition of Federal troops in L.A. is calculated to incite protests to violence, and he has been accomplishing that goal. He is claiming that the protests are being incited by paid, outside aggitators. “Very bad, bad people.” Has it occurred to no one that Trump regularly acuses others of what he is guity of? If there are outside agitators, he is sending them.
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The chaos in L.A. will need to be exported to other states. conviently, when he federalized the California National Guard, he extended it to all 50 states. He is beginning with the Blue states he hates. My guess is that Minnesota is next. He already did a test run on Sunday by sending in Federal law enforcement, complete with armored vehicles rolling down a main street in a Latino district, supposedly to make some drug cartel or human trafficing arrests. Next it will be ICE raids. The community is already totally agitated.
But he needs more mayhem yet. I am expecting that he will not hesitate to order the Federal troops to live fire on protesters that are throwing rocks or interfering with an ICE raid. That will, I believe, escalate the degree of protests nation-wide.
Once he gets a lot of rioting going, he can send his Proud Boys and Oath Keepers (who are standing by, remember) to clash with the protesters. This is the exact tactic Hitler used to declare Martial Law and take over Germany. There will be brawling in the streets, and Trump will have a clear path to Martial Law.
One would think that all this would arouse such anger on the part of the American people that they would just clog the streets until Trump just gave up and went to live in Saudi Arabia. But Trump has a back up plan to keep them out of the streets. All the data that Musk was able to steel from all the agencies he invaded has been combined into a single data base that has a record of every interaction every citizen has had with the Federal government—meaning everyone. He knows who’s receiving social security, who is depending on student loans, who could have their taxes audited. Threat of loss of livelihood will keep people controlled and off the streets.
Of course, Trump’s authoritarian control does not stop there, but I hope this is enough to make people realize the depth of the psychopathic mind we are dealing with. But I should mention that there is one, and only one, strength that we have in this Pandora's box of evils that can overcome all this, and it isn’t hope. IT IS NON VIOLENCE. NON VIOLENT RESISTANCE WILL KEEP THE PUBLIC’S BLAME ON THE PERPETRATOR AND THEIR SYMPATHY ON THE VICTIMS WHO WILL BE SEEN AS PEOPLE SACRIFICING FOR AN IMPORTANT CAUSE. But will the American people be able to show the self-restraint necessary to maintain non violence in the face of attack? I doubt it. But who knows. Maybe some form of leadership will emerge that brings all the diverse factions together and shepherds us to safety. I’ve already updated my passport.
The big hole in the presumptions that support democracy is that the leaders we choose will be honorable enough to adhere to a mere oath and follow the law as well as make the law. As it turns out, Trump knows nothing about politics, is contemptuous of democracy, oaths, and truth.
Mr. Hobbs, I think you might be talking about NORMS: the commonly accepted, informal rules of proper and improper behavior. There is very little which is commonly accepted and approved, about Trump's behavior.
Or am I wrong about this? After all, about half the voters went for trump, twice. Have we, as a country, changed so much?