The Lesson Dems Have Taken From The Republicans
Seems to be - lie bigger and more blatantly.
Two weeks ago the Dems argued deficits don't matter to pass the stimulus. Now they increased the capital gains tax because I guess deficits do matter? They are rather catering to their base, whose primary motivation is envy.
What It Meant to Be Liberal
To me, it meant two basic things:
1) Tolerance. Tolerance for people and lifestyles different from your own because life is rich, complex, contradictory and thus requires tolerance for a variety of ways to live it.
2) A basic acknowledgement that systems are not always fair and just and can be gamed to favor certain people over others. And we ought to strive to fix those unfairnesses.
These are things I still believe.
But I think people who call themselves liberal today, don't believe in either of these ideas. They certainly don't believe in #1. They don't even support dissent from people who essentially agree with them, but might argue for different tactics. But I also don't think they believe in #2 anymore, either. They believe instead in a more radical idea of historical unfairness and that "systems" must overcorrected to account for historical wrongs. They don't always explicitly say #2, but it's the subtextual argument they are making (and have been making). This is utopian and impossible and perhaps why the Left is becoming so intolerant and totalitarian. Their goals and desires do not sync with reality.
Easy To Test
I wonder if you held all other factors constant and cross compared data in communities with high% fathers vs low% fathers, what you would find... I would guess a lot less criminality and a lot higher educational achievement and I would also guess young men do "worse" in the lower % father areas.
Theory
One of the most bizarre aspects of the irrational and stupid Critical Race Theory agenda is how the mega-elites seem to be the most voracious advocates. This is a puzzle that must be analyzed. In fact, Harvard-Westlake and Brentwood school are two of the ground zero spots for CRT crises. What is happening here?How have these institutions that exist to service the elite become the most vocal "anti-white" in the country.
Two, not necessarily contradictory theories:
1) Some portion of the mega-haves are using Critical Race Theory as a tool to blunt meritocratic competition from who they view as their most imminent competition: lower class whites and Asians.
2) The CRT agenda is essentially being "performed" by people as a way to create drama in their essentially meaningless lives.
"Anti Racism"
"We are using language to demonize them for something they are not personally responsible for."
It's an evil cult and the only thing that I gain any satisfaction from is the knowledge that the people who join it, are themselves miserable. But that's a rather meager benefit and reflects only my own dark side, and not how I aspire to be.
Only In The Public Sector
The homeless situation in Los Angeles is a complete an utter public policy failure. I drove by my old haunts today, and places I used to live and frequent are decimated with tent cities and graffiti that one would expect to see in Caracas.
Why do so many people hate our society and want to see it fail?
Instigating the Mob
Maxine Walters, an elected representative, urges calm and to respect the judicial system. Oh wait a second, just kidding, she advocates rioting if the mob doesn't get what they want.
Perhaps some Republicans can be called out on their hypocrisy, but don't forget Trump was impeached twice...
Will Walters receive any official censure?
Quick Fix
Looks like a good book that criticizes psychological fads.
I've got an idea on how to improve educational outcomes: give everyone A's on their homework and we'll have an entire country of A students.
One Covid Death
Bear in mind, the UK were shit on by all the smart people for leaving the EU and then by acting fast to switch to first doses first. Both decisions have saved thousands of British lives. In other words, what governments are supposed to do.
Don't best against the UK, South Korea, Israel, or Taiwan. To my mind, they are the best countries in the world.
Logging
Film: Nobody
Not great, but not terrible. Reflects the generally low standards of genre cinema today. Glad I saw it in the theater. Got better after a lousy start.
Script: Terms of Endearment
Every page drips with emotion and characterization. Aurora does something unexpected and hilarious in most every scene. Really well centered and structured around the mother-daughter relationship. McMurtry, damn...
Something We Should Actually Be Afraid Of
Corporate bigwigs determining policy debates.
They've coopted a coalition of the woke as foot soldiers to keep them in their manors.
Because they sense the direction of the wind and that the global middle class has figured out how the corporate elite have systemically fuck them out of wages.
Esteem
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I suppose its true. I'd say today, I hold Obama in more esteem than I did when he was in office -- and I voted for him twice.
More than say his policies, which were okay, I think his temperament and gracefulness is something I miss.
Funny thing, I can almost say the same for George W Bush, although I never voted for him.
NY Times
Here is a quote from an article:
“As a trans man, I think neopronouns are getting way out of hand,”
Did White Supremacists Kill Jesus Too?
Yahoo: "White supremacy is the root of all race-related violence in the US"
Next up: how white supremacy explains the Rwandan genocide and Uiger internment camps.
Megan Ellison Slams Scott Rudin
No conflict of interest here. Absolutely none. Except being rivals for the exact same movie producing space.
Logging
Film: Godzilla (1954, original Japanese version)
100% worth a watch or rewatch. Melancholy, thematic...and all you want is to see the monster destroy stuff. Wonderful. Is this the only global icon of film history not made in America? And what I mean by global icon is you could ask almost anyone on the planet what Godzilla is and they would know, correct? Not so for Isabelle Hubert or Ingmar Bergman, me thinks.
Exhausting
The woke often express exhaustion. A suggestion as to why: it takes a lot of energy to keep lies straight.
Racism
I am hesitant to call CRT/wokeness racist, but there's no other word for what this:
Non-BIPOC Vermonters presently have to be over the age of 50 to sign up for the vaccine. Vt Governor just announced that any BIPOC person over the age of 16 can sign up.
Richard Spencer is hanging in his mom's basement just chomping at the bit.
Beyond the stupidity and mendacity of overtly racist policy, does anyone else see it as a bad cultural and political idea to alienate 75% of Americans?