While reading today's report, I was reminded of the treatise 'On Bullshit' by Frankfurt. We often think of statements -specially by politicians- as either truthful or lies. Truth or falsity would be provable and the speaker is knowledgeable of what they are saying. I surprisingly learned from Frankfurt (ok, call me naive) there is a third option for the speaker: they do not care! They will say anything and everything to advance their ambitions - truth and falsity are irrelevant.
This gave me a handle on how to understand this (resurrected) fascist party and their rhetoric. They do not care and have no interest in truth/falsity. It is all full-on 'Bullshit'.
Next time you hear a politician it might help your mental state to recognize this third option.
Resurrected fascist party is correct. Just heard Democracy Now's review of Jonathan Katz's new book, "Gangsters of Capitalism", where he's researched the attempts by the morbidly rich to install a fascist government in the mid-40's, after Roosevelt's introduction of the New Deal. It all parallels what we're seeing today.
Good post Thom, and I know that I am preaching to the choir, but when it comes to the proto fascists, not just the ones they elect, it is not that they just don't care. They know damn well that they are hypocrites. But is something that they right has always accused liberals of , and that is the end justifies the means,in their case they are projecting
Claiming to be pro life is just a tool in their tool box, they are well aware that they could care less about life, and pro life is a Luntzian or Orwellian code for reinstating the patriarchy, Augustus Caesars law of Pater Familia.
Like Incels they are weak men, they are motivated by fear, they live in fear, constantly under self imposed stress., they need their guns, they need their submissive women, that they maya feel like "real men".
Real men they are not, otherwise why would they shoot a kid through the door, shoot teenage girls
Paranoid fearful twerps, posturing as some TV caricature of a man, a would be like that phony draft dodging John Wayne, or that spineless Humphrey Bogart (I have a tale on that one_or that phony Clint Eastwood
"— Responded to the slaughter of schoolchildren in Tennessee by proposing legislation making it impossible for grieving parents to sue gun manufacturers and sellers." These were white, Christian, conservatives' kids and yet, they respond by making it easier for the next shooter. These people are beyond any rational explanation for their behavior. They are, 'strangely insane'.
Another spot on list by Thom of the malignant policies of the Grievance on Parade Party. For all us average Americans who don’t have a million in their bank accounts this “budget “ and debt ceiling proposal would be catastrophically cruel but that is the point, isn’t it. Millionaire/billionaire’s priorities come first for the Republicans and let us not forget it. How any voter can listen to their legislative representative as they spew their malevolent BS policy ideas like McQuevin , MTG, Santos, GymJordan and still vote for them has gone beyond pitiful. And shame on you hopelessly cruel fellow Californians that voted for McQuevin. If it didn’t hurt all of us and our future generations I’d say let them live in their corrupted, stupidly crafted hellscape that appeals to their white Christofascist idea of utopia. At some point doesn’t it occur to those voters who work union jobs , serve in our Armed Forces, or making barely livable wages, or close to retirement, on SSI, Medicare, that Republicans are not there for them? What does it take to wake those people the ‘elll up ? I’m on SSI, VA survivor benefits and a pension, and the threat of any cuts to my benefits has me fighting mad. So why have too many Americans surrendered to the right wing BS and willing to go along with Republicans cutting benefits and brown nosing the millionaire/billionaire donors? Are they really that stupid, willfully ignorant and uncaring about fellow Americans? I think so, and I feel it’s because, sadly, right wing messaging and propagating all the the myths that right wingers hold dear (blaming the “left”, POC, etc) have been successful. These myths that right wingers believe in show why they are susceptible to conspiracy theories and propaganda, some to the point of acting out violently against their perceived enemies such as fellow Americans. That’s why I am truly disappointed Dominion didn’t proceed with the trial because so much disclosure of Faux’s lying would have damaged their reputation further and maybe shake loose a few viewers but I can understand Dominion’s decision business wise. It all comes down for the rest of us sane people to Vote Blue in every election, promote fact- based dialogue and policies, volunteer and/or donate as best we can. Thank you for letting me vent again!
Is it coincidence that we're reading this on the same day that AP is reporting that King Charles' worth is in the vicinity of $2 billion? And tax-free income for the rest of his life; talk about the "lucky sperm club".
"The poor we'll always have with us..." said Jesus. And circa 800 B.C. one of the wisest, and richest, kings ever, Solomon, noticed that "Poverty is the destruction of the poor..." (Proverbs 10:15). It's a recurring problem, the inequality of some having far in excess of what they need, while many beg for their next crust of bread. Situations change, and cultures change, but human nature remains the same.
That the Brits simply adore their Queen and her hive of parasites is beyond my understanding, while members of the family that have some spine, and are willing to stand up to them are vilified (Harry and Meghan). The Brits have a 2000 year tradition of genuflecting serfdom, and obviously have no real pride.
The wealthiest Americans are the only ones who are thought of , in terms of need, they need more and more and more money.
But children and their families do not need to eat , go to good schools or colleges , because they are not going to live long enough to need a college degree.
These Republicans have no cares about this terrible poverty . Its not just that they don’t consider this onerous problem . They make these horrific problems
worse by insisting all aid goes to the wealthy. Abortion is according to the GOP, terrible. But not the lives of the children whose lives have been born into this crisis of poverty .
How do any of them sleep at night?
I think, quite well. They have no heart, so they truly do not care.
Ideas, memes, and myths have phenomenal power and tenacity. Centuries ago, a prophet or monk or religious leader was impressed with the notion that suffering makes people stronger and better. Job from the Bible is the prototypical example. Then, we got the story that commerce is the engine which produces all manner of benefits for a community and with that, the belief that success and wealth are positive values which spread and benefit everyone (trickle-down).
John Maynard Keynes summarized the capitalistic creed as, “…the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.”
Now, the Republican myth is that the taxpayer is king and that anyone who is not currently contributing and anyone who uses tax funds in a way that is not to their liking or who “wastes” money derived from taxes is worthless or guilty of capital(istic) crimes. Sink or swim, “tough love” (all tough and no love) and dog-eat-dog are core principles. God is good and very selective but greed is more godly than sharing and tolerance in this cynical and sadistic worldview.
It’s much easier to fight than switch. They have no inclination or incentive to alter their belief systems. Hearts and minds will only be changed as a new generation replaces the meanspirited life-haters. Unfortunately, however, they have the institutions locked up and under strict surveillance. They wrote the rules and passed the laws to suit their purposes and to spread their grief. No one is willing to even discuss the kind of change that is necessary, even here. Sad.
Love the Keynes quote. I like to remember "History of the Great American Fortunes" by Gustavus Myers, which relates the "gory" details of how the rich got rich. There's actually reciprocity in the twisted social "contract" between the haves and have-nots. Witness the admiration of Trump by stooges who feel they aren't responsible for their own victimization, yet think his trappings of wealth mean he must be better than them. There really is something unpleasantly doggish about it. Also, there's the dogma that if you are rich, you are a "job creator." (cue the Hartmann oeuvre.) We need a "Great Disillusionment."
The book you referenced appears to be one which I need for a close relative who has bought into the wealth = superiority mythology. I found the book and several versions or parts in a series on Amazon and plan to order a copy. The last sentence in the review/description at Amazon was the following:
“They do not seem to realize for a moment—what is clear to every real student of economics—that the great fortunes are the natural, logical outcome of a system based upon factors the inevitable result of which is the utter despoilment of the many for the benefit of a few.”
That sort of sums it up quite nicely. We do need a "Great Disillusionment" as you state. But first, people must become aware of their illusions. That will never happen as long as kids are programmed to acquiesce and passively accept authority for their entire formative years in schools, where they are led to believe the propaganda is education and the conditioning will lead them to truth. The whole enchilada is organized, controlled, and legally mandated to buttress the authoritarian, paternalistic, and capitalistic paradigm under which we all suffer.
This is not anything new. In 1943 the British government instituted the suggestions of John Maynard Keyens in India to raise the prices for food so as to extract more revenue to use in the war against the Germany and Italy. Churchill was quoted as saying that the 2 million people in Bengal that were starving to death that it was not a concern so long as they were people like Gandi.
This echos the actions of English landowners in Ireland that continued to export meat and grains during the famine that resultedd from potato blight. The estimated 1 million Irish men, women, and children that died from starvation, and the 1 million that were forced to leave their country and their homes, was of no consequence to the British government and the overclass.
It is called capitalism and so it is considered "natural" and the survival of the fitest but it is really predation by those in power of the populations they dominate by force with their soldiers and their policemen.
The establishment (plutocrats, oligarches 1% whatever you want to call them) hold Ghandi up as the model to emulate, the same with their version of MLK (their version). Non violent protest is a tactic that they actually use, it is a pressure relief valve on a pressure cooker).Remember the Occupy Movement.?What did they achieve? Nothing. The city council of Seattle said, give them their head, so they gave them a street, set up cordons, kept the cops out, and the whole affair died an embarrassing death.
The real reason that the Brits left India was not, as Churchill alludes, Ghandi, but the spirit of Subras Chandra Bose and the millions of armed Indians that had rallied to the call of the veterans of the Indian National Army.
I am not passing judgement on, or against, nor holding them up as a model. But Subras Chandra Bose led a detachment of Indians in the Waffen SS, and the Indian National Army were Indians who had joined the Japanese to drive the Brits out of India.
They were not NAZI's or Japanese fascists, but Indian nationalist that wanted to be free of colonial rule, they were armed, they were experienced they were battle hardened and they knew how to organize and fight a guerilla campaign. They scared the bejusus out of the Brits, and are not about to legitimize such activity, so they lionize Ghandi, just like the racists have lionized MLK.
Protest, march, rant, rave, make speeches to crowds of millions, go ahead but don't start burning their property or interfering with commerce.
Its not their problem because so much affirming evidence has accumulated that, yes, you can fool enough of the people most of the time. The Dodd decision and aftermath may have cracked the entrancement. Let's hope the light spreads to the "general welfare" issues Thom explicates, and doesn't get stuck in a little alley-brawl over morality and religion.
Looks like the arbitration isn't easy to squirrel out of, legally. In fact, it strikes me that Mike's dodge: I didn't actually release the real material, is itself fraud.
I just had a conversation with a local business owner about the homeless. He was saying he wouldn't let them "use" his place as the previous owner did. He then spoke about the park our town wanted to use to house some of them. That was not appropriate to him either, even though the park was miles away from his place.
Here's the real rub---he then spoke about his love of the Bible. Aaagh! How the hell can anyone call themselves a Christian that does not want to help people survive? When you reach the stage of being homeless, it IS about survival. When you are working and poor and can't buy enough food, it IS about survival, yet these "Christians" will vote for the McCarthy's of this world.
Their charity will continue to go to the rich and corporations, while they rob the poor of their chance to SURVIVE.
And by the way, I didn't let him off the hook. I countered every word that came out of his mouth. It's not hard to do, but it's hard to do it in a nice way. It started with "If you have 10,000 homeless people, you have 10,000 stories. It ended with YOU KNOW WHAT JESUS SAID TO DO.". I also made sure he knew about a man who froze to death in his tent about a mile from that park. I hope he said his prayers tonight.
Thom Have tried to join your site since Jan. 16th 2023 for $59.00 and something Tried again in April 16th to be precise.. Substack keep taking my money.. But still shows me as Non-paying.. I have submitted request to Substack and still have no answers.. Do you or your Company have any power to get this straighten out.... Listen every day but can't communicate.. Please Help..
Yes! Please drop a note to nigel@nigelpeacock.com and reference this conversation. Nigel runs the computer back-end here and can help you (or anybody else) out.
While reading today's report, I was reminded of the treatise 'On Bullshit' by Frankfurt. We often think of statements -specially by politicians- as either truthful or lies. Truth or falsity would be provable and the speaker is knowledgeable of what they are saying. I surprisingly learned from Frankfurt (ok, call me naive) there is a third option for the speaker: they do not care! They will say anything and everything to advance their ambitions - truth and falsity are irrelevant.
This gave me a handle on how to understand this (resurrected) fascist party and their rhetoric. They do not care and have no interest in truth/falsity. It is all full-on 'Bullshit'.
Next time you hear a politician it might help your mental state to recognize this third option.
Resurrected fascist party is correct. Just heard Democracy Now's review of Jonathan Katz's new book, "Gangsters of Capitalism", where he's researched the attempts by the morbidly rich to install a fascist government in the mid-40's, after Roosevelt's introduction of the New Deal. It all parallels what we're seeing today.
Good post Thom, and I know that I am preaching to the choir, but when it comes to the proto fascists, not just the ones they elect, it is not that they just don't care. They know damn well that they are hypocrites. But is something that they right has always accused liberals of , and that is the end justifies the means,in their case they are projecting
Claiming to be pro life is just a tool in their tool box, they are well aware that they could care less about life, and pro life is a Luntzian or Orwellian code for reinstating the patriarchy, Augustus Caesars law of Pater Familia.
Like Incels they are weak men, they are motivated by fear, they live in fear, constantly under self imposed stress., they need their guns, they need their submissive women, that they maya feel like "real men".
Real men they are not, otherwise why would they shoot a kid through the door, shoot teenage girls
Paranoid fearful twerps, posturing as some TV caricature of a man, a would be like that phony draft dodging John Wayne, or that spineless Humphrey Bogart (I have a tale on that one_or that phony Clint Eastwood
"— Responded to the slaughter of schoolchildren in Tennessee by proposing legislation making it impossible for grieving parents to sue gun manufacturers and sellers." These were white, Christian, conservatives' kids and yet, they respond by making it easier for the next shooter. These people are beyond any rational explanation for their behavior. They are, 'strangely insane'.
Another spot on list by Thom of the malignant policies of the Grievance on Parade Party. For all us average Americans who don’t have a million in their bank accounts this “budget “ and debt ceiling proposal would be catastrophically cruel but that is the point, isn’t it. Millionaire/billionaire’s priorities come first for the Republicans and let us not forget it. How any voter can listen to their legislative representative as they spew their malevolent BS policy ideas like McQuevin , MTG, Santos, GymJordan and still vote for them has gone beyond pitiful. And shame on you hopelessly cruel fellow Californians that voted for McQuevin. If it didn’t hurt all of us and our future generations I’d say let them live in their corrupted, stupidly crafted hellscape that appeals to their white Christofascist idea of utopia. At some point doesn’t it occur to those voters who work union jobs , serve in our Armed Forces, or making barely livable wages, or close to retirement, on SSI, Medicare, that Republicans are not there for them? What does it take to wake those people the ‘elll up ? I’m on SSI, VA survivor benefits and a pension, and the threat of any cuts to my benefits has me fighting mad. So why have too many Americans surrendered to the right wing BS and willing to go along with Republicans cutting benefits and brown nosing the millionaire/billionaire donors? Are they really that stupid, willfully ignorant and uncaring about fellow Americans? I think so, and I feel it’s because, sadly, right wing messaging and propagating all the the myths that right wingers hold dear (blaming the “left”, POC, etc) have been successful. These myths that right wingers believe in show why they are susceptible to conspiracy theories and propaganda, some to the point of acting out violently against their perceived enemies such as fellow Americans. That’s why I am truly disappointed Dominion didn’t proceed with the trial because so much disclosure of Faux’s lying would have damaged their reputation further and maybe shake loose a few viewers but I can understand Dominion’s decision business wise. It all comes down for the rest of us sane people to Vote Blue in every election, promote fact- based dialogue and policies, volunteer and/or donate as best we can. Thank you for letting me vent again!
Is it coincidence that we're reading this on the same day that AP is reporting that King Charles' worth is in the vicinity of $2 billion? And tax-free income for the rest of his life; talk about the "lucky sperm club".
"The poor we'll always have with us..." said Jesus. And circa 800 B.C. one of the wisest, and richest, kings ever, Solomon, noticed that "Poverty is the destruction of the poor..." (Proverbs 10:15). It's a recurring problem, the inequality of some having far in excess of what they need, while many beg for their next crust of bread. Situations change, and cultures change, but human nature remains the same.
That the Brits simply adore their Queen and her hive of parasites is beyond my understanding, while members of the family that have some spine, and are willing to stand up to them are vilified (Harry and Meghan). The Brits have a 2000 year tradition of genuflecting serfdom, and obviously have no real pride.
The wealthiest Americans are the only ones who are thought of , in terms of need, they need more and more and more money.
But children and their families do not need to eat , go to good schools or colleges , because they are not going to live long enough to need a college degree.
These Republicans have no cares about this terrible poverty . Its not just that they don’t consider this onerous problem . They make these horrific problems
worse by insisting all aid goes to the wealthy. Abortion is according to the GOP, terrible. But not the lives of the children whose lives have been born into this crisis of poverty .
How do any of them sleep at night?
I think, quite well. They have no heart, so they truly do not care.
Ideas, memes, and myths have phenomenal power and tenacity. Centuries ago, a prophet or monk or religious leader was impressed with the notion that suffering makes people stronger and better. Job from the Bible is the prototypical example. Then, we got the story that commerce is the engine which produces all manner of benefits for a community and with that, the belief that success and wealth are positive values which spread and benefit everyone (trickle-down).
John Maynard Keynes summarized the capitalistic creed as, “…the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.”
Now, the Republican myth is that the taxpayer is king and that anyone who is not currently contributing and anyone who uses tax funds in a way that is not to their liking or who “wastes” money derived from taxes is worthless or guilty of capital(istic) crimes. Sink or swim, “tough love” (all tough and no love) and dog-eat-dog are core principles. God is good and very selective but greed is more godly than sharing and tolerance in this cynical and sadistic worldview.
It’s much easier to fight than switch. They have no inclination or incentive to alter their belief systems. Hearts and minds will only be changed as a new generation replaces the meanspirited life-haters. Unfortunately, however, they have the institutions locked up and under strict surveillance. They wrote the rules and passed the laws to suit their purposes and to spread their grief. No one is willing to even discuss the kind of change that is necessary, even here. Sad.
Love the Keynes quote. I like to remember "History of the Great American Fortunes" by Gustavus Myers, which relates the "gory" details of how the rich got rich. There's actually reciprocity in the twisted social "contract" between the haves and have-nots. Witness the admiration of Trump by stooges who feel they aren't responsible for their own victimization, yet think his trappings of wealth mean he must be better than them. There really is something unpleasantly doggish about it. Also, there's the dogma that if you are rich, you are a "job creator." (cue the Hartmann oeuvre.) We need a "Great Disillusionment."
Mmerose,
The book you referenced appears to be one which I need for a close relative who has bought into the wealth = superiority mythology. I found the book and several versions or parts in a series on Amazon and plan to order a copy. The last sentence in the review/description at Amazon was the following:
“They do not seem to realize for a moment—what is clear to every real student of economics—that the great fortunes are the natural, logical outcome of a system based upon factors the inevitable result of which is the utter despoilment of the many for the benefit of a few.”
That sort of sums it up quite nicely. We do need a "Great Disillusionment" as you state. But first, people must become aware of their illusions. That will never happen as long as kids are programmed to acquiesce and passively accept authority for their entire formative years in schools, where they are led to believe the propaganda is education and the conditioning will lead them to truth. The whole enchilada is organized, controlled, and legally mandated to buttress the authoritarian, paternalistic, and capitalistic paradigm under which we all suffer.
This is not anything new. In 1943 the British government instituted the suggestions of John Maynard Keyens in India to raise the prices for food so as to extract more revenue to use in the war against the Germany and Italy. Churchill was quoted as saying that the 2 million people in Bengal that were starving to death that it was not a concern so long as they were people like Gandi.
This echos the actions of English landowners in Ireland that continued to export meat and grains during the famine that resultedd from potato blight. The estimated 1 million Irish men, women, and children that died from starvation, and the 1 million that were forced to leave their country and their homes, was of no consequence to the British government and the overclass.
It is called capitalism and so it is considered "natural" and the survival of the fitest but it is really predation by those in power of the populations they dominate by force with their soldiers and their policemen.
The establishment (plutocrats, oligarches 1% whatever you want to call them) hold Ghandi up as the model to emulate, the same with their version of MLK (their version). Non violent protest is a tactic that they actually use, it is a pressure relief valve on a pressure cooker).Remember the Occupy Movement.?What did they achieve? Nothing. The city council of Seattle said, give them their head, so they gave them a street, set up cordons, kept the cops out, and the whole affair died an embarrassing death.
The real reason that the Brits left India was not, as Churchill alludes, Ghandi, but the spirit of Subras Chandra Bose and the millions of armed Indians that had rallied to the call of the veterans of the Indian National Army.
I am not passing judgement on, or against, nor holding them up as a model. But Subras Chandra Bose led a detachment of Indians in the Waffen SS, and the Indian National Army were Indians who had joined the Japanese to drive the Brits out of India.
They were not NAZI's or Japanese fascists, but Indian nationalist that wanted to be free of colonial rule, they were armed, they were experienced they were battle hardened and they knew how to organize and fight a guerilla campaign. They scared the bejusus out of the Brits, and are not about to legitimize such activity, so they lionize Ghandi, just like the racists have lionized MLK.
Protest, march, rant, rave, make speeches to crowds of millions, go ahead but don't start burning their property or interfering with commerce.
And the GOP , along with its other lies, refuses to look at reality and worse, doesn’t consider suffering by millions to be their problem.
Its not their problem because so much affirming evidence has accumulated that, yes, you can fool enough of the people most of the time. The Dodd decision and aftermath may have cracked the entrancement. Let's hope the light spreads to the "general welfare" issues Thom explicates, and doesn't get stuck in a little alley-brawl over morality and religion.
OMG! This is gold!
"Mike Lindell’s firm told to pay $5 million in ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ election-fraud challenge"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/04/20/mike-lindell-prove-wrong-contest/
Looks like the arbitration isn't easy to squirrel out of, legally. In fact, it strikes me that Mike's dodge: I didn't actually release the real material, is itself fraud.
It's fundamental, but not in a Christian way.
I just had a conversation with a local business owner about the homeless. He was saying he wouldn't let them "use" his place as the previous owner did. He then spoke about the park our town wanted to use to house some of them. That was not appropriate to him either, even though the park was miles away from his place.
Here's the real rub---he then spoke about his love of the Bible. Aaagh! How the hell can anyone call themselves a Christian that does not want to help people survive? When you reach the stage of being homeless, it IS about survival. When you are working and poor and can't buy enough food, it IS about survival, yet these "Christians" will vote for the McCarthy's of this world.
Their charity will continue to go to the rich and corporations, while they rob the poor of their chance to SURVIVE.
And by the way, I didn't let him off the hook. I countered every word that came out of his mouth. It's not hard to do, but it's hard to do it in a nice way. It started with "If you have 10,000 homeless people, you have 10,000 stories. It ended with YOU KNOW WHAT JESUS SAID TO DO.". I also made sure he knew about a man who froze to death in his tent about a mile from that park. I hope he said his prayers tonight.
Thom Have tried to join your site since Jan. 16th 2023 for $59.00 and something Tried again in April 16th to be precise.. Substack keep taking my money.. But still shows me as Non-paying.. I have submitted request to Substack and still have no answers.. Do you or your Company have any power to get this straighten out.... Listen every day but can't communicate.. Please Help..
Yes! Please drop a note to nigel@nigelpeacock.com and reference this conversation. Nigel runs the computer back-end here and can help you (or anybody else) out.
This is the true story.