One could see the trend for decades, getting traction on St. Ronnie’s watch. Triumph of financialization over basic economic stuff. Reduced wages and benefits substituted with cheap debt, reduced prices from offshoring and public assistance. All allowed by bought’n’paid elected officials.
And now it’s the relatively poor locking into power the most unfit elected officials. And then there’s SCOTUS crippling free elections, greatly reducing the power of the federal government and limiting states rights to policies of which the GOP approves.
There are these lovely manuscript marginalia illustrations of bunnies chopping off the heads of hunters, or carrying off a few trussed by the ankles over their shoulder. We can look at this & assume "how whimsically fresh" & not get that these are imaginings of a word where one's aristocratic "betters" have reaped what they've sown & the oppressed take over the world. What could be more meek than a bunny? Except when u fuck with a bunny...
One of the things I've seen is that you (our generation) could go to a medium state school, in my case the brand new Wright State University in Dayton, and the degree seemed as useful as an east coast legacy school. Not anymore.
Our generation seems to have gone out of our way to screw the next few generations over. Doesn't seem like a good idea in the long run.
Another first-rate banger, Roy. Glenn Beck is a great example, and I think it mostly has to do with the death of shame.
If I’d ping-ponged back and forth between torches/pitchforks and singing Kumbaya in pursuit of the almighty dollar as many times as Glenn Beck has, I’d only rarely go out in public and I’d wear a paper bag over my head when I did. But the rightwing grifters not only are not ashamed, they are loud and proud.
And of course no one in the world of media/journalism mainstream holds their feet to the fire. They can pivot 180 degrees and are met with “oh, OK” as a response, never “wait, what the fuck is this now?”
1.) It is possible to reinvent oneself even if you're not rich. As someone who has HAD to do so several times in this life, I can tell you it is possible. Extremely difficult, gut-wrenching, and fraught with danger--but possible.
2.) The serial "reinvention" of Glenn Back and all the others like him is enabled not by their wealth but by the incredibly short attention spans of Americans coupled with the fact that, collectively, this country has suffered way too much brain injury. So Beck can call for the mass murder of Democrats this morning, embrace universal love and brotherhood this afternoon, declare himself a servant of Ba'al in the evening, and go right back to licking Donald Trump's sweaty asscrack tomorrow morning. For his followers, there isn't a smidgen of inconsistency in any of this--it's all one seamless flow that makes perfect sense.
Thus can Donald Trump push for the "warp speed" development of covid vaccines, then encourage his followers to NOT take those vaccines, then make bland public statement about how important those vaccines are, then go right back into the full Q-Anon "vaccines are micro-chipped" nonsense. Point out any of those statements to a Trump follower and you'll just be accused of blind Trump hate.
Glenn Beck has always been perfectly consistent in that I hated him then and I hate him now, and for people whose only metric is "Do lib'ruls hate 'im?" that's a perfectly straight through-line.
Good one, Roy. If privilege means anything it's this: Having the choice to reinvent yourself and having the luxury to fail. I was able to get in the van for 20 years and not fall off the ladder. No trust fund, no checks from home, but a helluva lot of fun. For the the kids' sake, I hope those days aren't gone forever.
On the other hand, if you're poor and don't mind staying that way, it's not too hard to reinvent yourself. The biggest obstacle is often, as Roy notes, a job. It demands a certain consistency.
The second biggest is the internet. You can reinvent yourself, but someone's gonna look you up sooner or later.
Also it's getting harder and more expensive to legally change your name, and I suspect this is largely gatekeeping trans people which I'm sure they think is a win, but is also conveniently making it harder for everybody to get away from bad lives, and that's a bigger win.
You know, Roy, sometimes I I dip my cup of soup back from a gurglin' cracklin' cauldron in some trainyard ... through cupped hands 'round the tin can I pretend to hold you to my breast, and find that you're waiting from the backroads by the rivers of my memories, ever smilin' ever gentle on my mind
Never paid attention to Glenn Beck, though I have relatives who take him seriously and Roy to take him on critically. I don't know whether he serves as the best example of positive liberty, but the subtle call to class warfare is appreciated. It doesn't have to be violent if the rich aren't treating other people as "looters" and "moochers" and take their reeducation meekly to understand the people are reclaiming their rights
In no particular order but super brief:
One could see the trend for decades, getting traction on St. Ronnie’s watch. Triumph of financialization over basic economic stuff. Reduced wages and benefits substituted with cheap debt, reduced prices from offshoring and public assistance. All allowed by bought’n’paid elected officials.
And now it’s the relatively poor locking into power the most unfit elected officials. And then there’s SCOTUS crippling free elections, greatly reducing the power of the federal government and limiting states rights to policies of which the GOP approves.
But don’t get me started...
There are these lovely manuscript marginalia illustrations of bunnies chopping off the heads of hunters, or carrying off a few trussed by the ankles over their shoulder. We can look at this & assume "how whimsically fresh" & not get that these are imaginings of a word where one's aristocratic "betters" have reaped what they've sown & the oppressed take over the world. What could be more meek than a bunny? Except when u fuck with a bunny...
One of the things I've seen is that you (our generation) could go to a medium state school, in my case the brand new Wright State University in Dayton, and the degree seemed as useful as an east coast legacy school. Not anymore.
Our generation seems to have gone out of our way to screw the next few generations over. Doesn't seem like a good idea in the long run.
Another first-rate banger, Roy. Glenn Beck is a great example, and I think it mostly has to do with the death of shame.
If I’d ping-ponged back and forth between torches/pitchforks and singing Kumbaya in pursuit of the almighty dollar as many times as Glenn Beck has, I’d only rarely go out in public and I’d wear a paper bag over my head when I did. But the rightwing grifters not only are not ashamed, they are loud and proud.
And of course no one in the world of media/journalism mainstream holds their feet to the fire. They can pivot 180 degrees and are met with “oh, OK” as a response, never “wait, what the fuck is this now?”
Don't be too sure on Baltimore. They've taken the harbors (generic glass condo buildings chock full of AMENITIES) and they're creeping inward.
Meh.
1.) It is possible to reinvent oneself even if you're not rich. As someone who has HAD to do so several times in this life, I can tell you it is possible. Extremely difficult, gut-wrenching, and fraught with danger--but possible.
2.) The serial "reinvention" of Glenn Back and all the others like him is enabled not by their wealth but by the incredibly short attention spans of Americans coupled with the fact that, collectively, this country has suffered way too much brain injury. So Beck can call for the mass murder of Democrats this morning, embrace universal love and brotherhood this afternoon, declare himself a servant of Ba'al in the evening, and go right back to licking Donald Trump's sweaty asscrack tomorrow morning. For his followers, there isn't a smidgen of inconsistency in any of this--it's all one seamless flow that makes perfect sense.
Thus can Donald Trump push for the "warp speed" development of covid vaccines, then encourage his followers to NOT take those vaccines, then make bland public statement about how important those vaccines are, then go right back into the full Q-Anon "vaccines are micro-chipped" nonsense. Point out any of those statements to a Trump follower and you'll just be accused of blind Trump hate.
Glenn Beck has always been perfectly consistent in that I hated him then and I hate him now, and for people whose only metric is "Do lib'ruls hate 'im?" that's a perfectly straight through-line.
I remember growing up all the toffs were millionaires and Boy Howdy , was that ever something to be!
Now all the real swells are billionaires.
I explain to people that a million seconds is 12 days. A billion seconds is 31 years.
Most just shrug their shoulders and say
" Inflation - whatya gonna do? Fuck Brandon, eh " and go back to thinking "When I win the lottery I'm going to buy a gold toilet of my own."
Good one, Roy. If privilege means anything it's this: Having the choice to reinvent yourself and having the luxury to fail. I was able to get in the van for 20 years and not fall off the ladder. No trust fund, no checks from home, but a helluva lot of fun. For the the kids' sake, I hope those days aren't gone forever.
Superb.
On the other hand, if you're poor and don't mind staying that way, it's not too hard to reinvent yourself. The biggest obstacle is often, as Roy notes, a job. It demands a certain consistency.
The second biggest is the internet. You can reinvent yourself, but someone's gonna look you up sooner or later.
Also it's getting harder and more expensive to legally change your name, and I suspect this is largely gatekeeping trans people which I'm sure they think is a win, but is also conveniently making it harder for everybody to get away from bad lives, and that's a bigger win.
'...they may have to be dissolved as a class.' Hear hear. Cue sound of multiple pig-kissings, but we can only try.
"dedicated hobo sherpas and artisanal Sterno"
So good.
You know, Roy, sometimes I I dip my cup of soup back from a gurglin' cracklin' cauldron in some trainyard ... through cupped hands 'round the tin can I pretend to hold you to my breast, and find that you're waiting from the backroads by the rivers of my memories, ever smilin' ever gentle on my mind
ARTISANAL STERNO…MY NEW BAND NAME!
Never paid attention to Glenn Beck, though I have relatives who take him seriously and Roy to take him on critically. I don't know whether he serves as the best example of positive liberty, but the subtle call to class warfare is appreciated. It doesn't have to be violent if the rich aren't treating other people as "looters" and "moochers" and take their reeducation meekly to understand the people are reclaiming their rights
Re the latest from Glennbeckistan:
Das reno ist nicht gut!
Apologies to anyone who knows German (unlike me).