History, invaluable in understanding how we got here, is easier to digest than current events because we already know the outcome in advance and aren't living through it personally. As horrid as things were — endless war and human suffering — there's a certain comfort and sense of safety in being separated by time, relaxed in a cozy chair by a warm fireplace, reading about historical events, relegating past realities to the intellectual realm of the mind.
Yet, here we are: living through history in the making in a world still torn apart by endless war and human suffering — and now, by imminent climate destruction on a biblical scale.
Focusing on present realities poses a more significant psychological challenge despite our understanding of how we arrived here. Experiencing the daily nightmare of evil surrounding us is quite frightening when we don't yet know our ultimate fate but suspect the future is a dark and foreboding place, threatening our lives and our children.
The sad fact is that we don't always win when we fight. Defeated, we feel naked in a cold, cruel world, casting around desperately for some security when there is none, some solution that will make the bad disappear when it's here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. No hero will save us; no cavalry will come to the rescue. We are alone and afraid.
Maybe that's how true revolutions begin: When enough people feel the sting of defeat and have nothing left to lose, when they feel the real pain of life firsthand at the gut level, not as a sterile intellectual exercise but as their reality, affecting the deepest part of the mind, fundamentally changing how they think about the world and their place in it.
Then, perhaps, a groundswell of good people will come together despite their differences, act urgently, and change the outward world for the better — the hourglass is running out.
"True revolutions." If you mean 1776, ours wasn't.
I have lived through the civil rights struggles, the sexual revolution, etc. I was conscriped and survived a year in southeast Asia, where a "real" revolution was happening. We were on the losing side.
Noun. hopium (uncountable) (colloquial, derogatory) A clinging to unreasonable or unfounded hopes
Expect Biden, Harris, Democatic operatives, analysts, etc to do nothing but slip silently into the back ground in hopes of escaping the vengeful hand of Trump
When ever a dam breaks, it starts with a small leak, then expands and then gushes.
The small leak was Joe and Mikka Scarborough, kneeling on the hassock at Mar a lago., the capitulation of Yoon of LA Times, Bezo's, Zuckerberg are the stream, the dam is breaking and son it will gush forth and drown out all downstream.
of course there may not be a next generation functioning in an advanced civilization, so how about now? It’s all gadflies with no great heroes so first is to coordinate the best there is. We can start with you, me, and Marianne.
Biden was a victim of his upgringing.. He was elected to the Senate when he was 31 years of age, as a Democrat when the Democratic party was controlled by racists like James Eastland, Byrd and Strom Thurmond
, these were his mentors, they took him under their wing and taught him everything he knows in politics, especially compromise and bipartisanship.
The world has moved on since he served, but those are the lessons learned, and I guess you can't a teach an old dog, new tricks (not a universality, but true enough in Joes case)
He, and other politicans, don't live in the same world that we do, He has had brief exposure on his daily train rides to and from Delaware, but not real world exposure.
I agree. Biden was a surprisingly good President but his background was in compromise not leadership. That tends to be a problem with Presidents coming from Congressional backgrounds although LBJ knew how to get his way once he decided what he wanted. I see some good people coming up like Senator Whitehouse, Jamie Raskin, AOC, Jasmine Crockett and others but they are not in a position of power to effect things as they have to fight the Corporate Democrats in addition to the Republicans.
What happened to “When we fight, we win!” ???
History, invaluable in understanding how we got here, is easier to digest than current events because we already know the outcome in advance and aren't living through it personally. As horrid as things were — endless war and human suffering — there's a certain comfort and sense of safety in being separated by time, relaxed in a cozy chair by a warm fireplace, reading about historical events, relegating past realities to the intellectual realm of the mind.
Yet, here we are: living through history in the making in a world still torn apart by endless war and human suffering — and now, by imminent climate destruction on a biblical scale.
Focusing on present realities poses a more significant psychological challenge despite our understanding of how we arrived here. Experiencing the daily nightmare of evil surrounding us is quite frightening when we don't yet know our ultimate fate but suspect the future is a dark and foreboding place, threatening our lives and our children.
The sad fact is that we don't always win when we fight. Defeated, we feel naked in a cold, cruel world, casting around desperately for some security when there is none, some solution that will make the bad disappear when it's here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. No hero will save us; no cavalry will come to the rescue. We are alone and afraid.
Maybe that's how true revolutions begin: When enough people feel the sting of defeat and have nothing left to lose, when they feel the real pain of life firsthand at the gut level, not as a sterile intellectual exercise but as their reality, affecting the deepest part of the mind, fundamentally changing how they think about the world and their place in it.
Then, perhaps, a groundswell of good people will come together despite their differences, act urgently, and change the outward world for the better — the hourglass is running out.
"True revolutions." If you mean 1776, ours wasn't.
I have lived through the civil rights struggles, the sexual revolution, etc. I was conscriped and survived a year in southeast Asia, where a "real" revolution was happening. We were on the losing side.
I don't mean a physically violent revolution but rather a more profound revolution of thought and mind.
(I posted the rest of this reply on Thursday's blog, 12-19-24.)
IMHO our hope is down to one guy --- Biden.
Noun. hopium (uncountable) (colloquial, derogatory) A clinging to unreasonable or unfounded hopes
Expect Biden, Harris, Democatic operatives, analysts, etc to do nothing but slip silently into the back ground in hopes of escaping the vengeful hand of Trump
When ever a dam breaks, it starts with a small leak, then expands and then gushes.
The small leak was Joe and Mikka Scarborough, kneeling on the hassock at Mar a lago., the capitulation of Yoon of LA Times, Bezo's, Zuckerberg are the stream, the dam is breaking and son it will gush forth and drown out all downstream.
As I keep sayin' "never up, never in."
Maybe if everyone contacts Biden.....
I don't understand what you mean by never up never in.
You must not play golf.
of course there may not be a next generation functioning in an advanced civilization, so how about now? It’s all gadflies with no great heroes so first is to coordinate the best there is. We can start with you, me, and Marianne.
Who’s Marianne?
Marianne Williamson?
Biden is part of the problem; he and other centrist Democrats have been afraid to implement progressive principles like FDR did.
Granted, he did about as much as he could get away with, with such a recalcitrant Republican congress, but he should have pushed for much more.
But then, he was no FDR, and he has had a namby-pamby Democratic committee for "support."
Biden was a victim of his upgringing.. He was elected to the Senate when he was 31 years of age, as a Democrat when the Democratic party was controlled by racists like James Eastland, Byrd and Strom Thurmond
, these were his mentors, they took him under their wing and taught him everything he knows in politics, especially compromise and bipartisanship.
The world has moved on since he served, but those are the lessons learned, and I guess you can't a teach an old dog, new tricks (not a universality, but true enough in Joes case)
He, and other politicans, don't live in the same world that we do, He has had brief exposure on his daily train rides to and from Delaware, but not real world exposure.
The Beltway is it's own bubble.
He became a senator in his
I agree. Biden was a surprisingly good President but his background was in compromise not leadership. That tends to be a problem with Presidents coming from Congressional backgrounds although LBJ knew how to get his way once he decided what he wanted. I see some good people coming up like Senator Whitehouse, Jamie Raskin, AOC, Jasmine Crockett and others but they are not in a position of power to effect things as they have to fight the Corporate Democrats in addition to the Republicans.
If you want him to stand up, you get no flies with vinegar.
We are past the hearts and minds phase, Only 22 days to the end of Democracy. Time for the sledge hammer, forget the sugar and vinegar.