Since I do not believe in reinventing the wheel unless absolutely necessary, I am cross-posting this excellent missive from Rick Wilson, a man I used to dislike for being such a smart politician as he is. THE NORMALCY BIAS WILL KILL US ALL By: Rick Wilson
The sad thing is that even under trump, for a lot of people it will be true that, in Auden's phrase, "dogs go on with their doggy life, and the torturers horse scratches its innocent behind on a tree."
For a while. But the brain drain will eventually affect their lives--waits for doctor or dentist appointments 2 or 3 years, no one to teach your kids. As will the deregulation, no one to be sure your food or drugs or air or cars are safe or that the banks don't gouge you. No one to fix your phone or be sure your internet is working (quite apart from what you are allowed to view on it). The PEOPLE who run the background of the lives of those lots of people won't be around to run it for anything but the profit of the wealthy. Where will they go? Australia maybe? Canada? And those are not necessarily politically active people, just politically aware.
I agree with Allen that a lot of MAGATS would help shovel your sidewalk or watch your kids in an emergency or help you jump-start your car--at least if you are of the right color or language or sexual persuasion. We have to remember that they are not Evil, not Stupid in ordinary life. I'm not talking about the pseudo-MAGATS who are actually in it to feather their own nest and who tell the lies that lull us towards autocracy, but the folks down the block with the MAGA sticker on their cars.
But the folks down the block will eventually find out what folks in shit hole countries already know: Living in those countries is nothing like what we are used to. Take Paradise and put up a parking lot: your low information voter won't know what they've got till it's gone.
Great post to present to us. Thank you TCinLA. Very accurate----and discomforting!!! I hope the AXIOS writers get more and more feedback on this. WHY can't the MSM see the danger???? The bias is too pervasive.
Thanks TC, for cross posting this very enlightened accurate description of the United States political scene today. Rick Wilson is quite accurate. I wish we could unplug all of mainstream "not news" media. I disconnected my cable 11 months ago in a fit of anger over the lies on CNN and NBC, haven't missed it a bit.
Sorry, TC, I'm a news junky and a hell of a lot older than you, didn't grow up with TV, listened to the Shadow and Green Hornet and news, on radio, same on TV. LOL
Yes, radio. I sat next to my mother on the sofa and handed her bobbi pins as she set her hair and we listened to Gabriel Heater report on the war every night while my dad was away in the Pacific firing a gun from the nose of a B-24 Liberator. Heater would open his broadcast by saying, "Ah, there's good news tonight" or "bad news." Even as a small child I knew when things were important by the tone of the newscasters' voices. Most TV news today is more like entertainment.
Oh Judith, you are so correct, that is exactly what the TV "news is today - entertainment - I don't know if it's because Americans have degenerated so much due to the high cost of education, or they are so depressed they only want to be entertained, whatever the cause it is bad for us.
I agree, TC, I don't need to watch network again, I've read enough real stories top know whose at fault. That's one of the reasons I had my cable disconnected - there seemed no point in watching something that had me yelling and cursing.
This syncs very nicely -- which is to say "terrifyingly" -- with what I've been thinking about a lot lately: Trump Derangement Syndrome, the version that seems all too common among moderate and liberal types. This assumes that once Trump is out of the way, ideally in prison, things will return to "normal." My friends are sick of me pointing out that Trump didn't come out of nowhere and the conditions that made him possible are not going away. But it's true.
Lately, I find myself seeing the same pattern over and over in vvarious situations: the fact that in order to accomplish what you want, you need to do the OPPOSITE of the obvious. There are many examples, and I need to start writing them down, or I don't retain them. i.e. in order to become more prosperous, you need to spend money, rather than hoard it. I've been seeing that everywhere, including in scripture: to gain your life, you must lose it; to be the first, you must be last, and servant of all. But it isn't just scripture! It's everywhere!
That's how I read the message you've shared here: we can't assume everything will stay the same - we have to flip the script upside down and go on the offensive! To keep our way of life, we have to upend the status quo!!
Of course, for those of us in this community, that's what we've been doing. And we have to continue.
THIS: ". . . not being involved in politics every moment of the day is a luxury only present in stable democracies." We've lost that luxury. Maybe, just maaaaaybe, if we understand that in time we can reclaim it. But it will take more work and involvement than most of us ever thought we'd have to take on.
This is exactly why I continue to handwrite my short notes of warning about fascism on cut up pieces of ad stock or cardboard and placing them between jars of mayo at the market, inside the gas pump handle at the station down the street, as markers inside the occasional magazine at the dentist's office, inside the books I donate for the monthly book sale at the public library, etc. If I found such a handwritten note in an unsuspected place it would give me pause and make me think. If I had any talent I'd pull some Banksy art messages, but alas. This is a true culture war (in all that the term means) and not just a political one and must be fought on many, many fronts.
Thanks, TC; my thought experiment is simple. It's October 1962; the Russian ships are approaching the quarantine line. Do you want someone who can play chess, or would you rather one who could well use the board to wipe his drawers, which at that point would most likely be full? Find the equivalency in that, fools!
This the most comprehensive and articulate synopsis I have read about the current state of affairs in our country.
The sad thing is that even under trump, for a lot of people it will be true that, in Auden's phrase, "dogs go on with their doggy life, and the torturers horse scratches its innocent behind on a tree."
For a while. But the brain drain will eventually affect their lives--waits for doctor or dentist appointments 2 or 3 years, no one to teach your kids. As will the deregulation, no one to be sure your food or drugs or air or cars are safe or that the banks don't gouge you. No one to fix your phone or be sure your internet is working (quite apart from what you are allowed to view on it). The PEOPLE who run the background of the lives of those lots of people won't be around to run it for anything but the profit of the wealthy. Where will they go? Australia maybe? Canada? And those are not necessarily politically active people, just politically aware.
I agree with Allen that a lot of MAGATS would help shovel your sidewalk or watch your kids in an emergency or help you jump-start your car--at least if you are of the right color or language or sexual persuasion. We have to remember that they are not Evil, not Stupid in ordinary life. I'm not talking about the pseudo-MAGATS who are actually in it to feather their own nest and who tell the lies that lull us towards autocracy, but the folks down the block with the MAGA sticker on their cars.
But the folks down the block will eventually find out what folks in shit hole countries already know: Living in those countries is nothing like what we are used to. Take Paradise and put up a parking lot: your low information voter won't know what they've got till it's gone.
“Low information voter”: such a good turn of phrase.
Thanks for this. We are a complacency-free zone!
Great post to present to us. Thank you TCinLA. Very accurate----and discomforting!!! I hope the AXIOS writers get more and more feedback on this. WHY can't the MSM see the danger???? The bias is too pervasive.
Thanks TC, for cross posting this very enlightened accurate description of the United States political scene today. Rick Wilson is quite accurate. I wish we could unplug all of mainstream "not news" media. I disconnected my cable 11 months ago in a fit of anger over the lies on CNN and NBC, haven't missed it a bit.
You mean you're missing "Shogun"?? And "A Gentleman in Moscow"? Oh noes....... :-)
Sorry, TC, I'm a news junky and a hell of a lot older than you, didn't grow up with TV, listened to the Shadow and Green Hornet and news, on radio, same on TV. LOL
Yes, radio. I sat next to my mother on the sofa and handed her bobbi pins as she set her hair and we listened to Gabriel Heater report on the war every night while my dad was away in the Pacific firing a gun from the nose of a B-24 Liberator. Heater would open his broadcast by saying, "Ah, there's good news tonight" or "bad news." Even as a small child I knew when things were important by the tone of the newscasters' voices. Most TV news today is more like entertainment.
Oh Judith, you are so correct, that is exactly what the TV "news is today - entertainment - I don't know if it's because Americans have degenerated so much due to the high cost of education, or they are so depressed they only want to be entertained, whatever the cause it is bad for us.
It's because the pinstriped corporate pimps decided the news division should also make a profit. Go watch "Network" agin.
I agree, TC, I don't need to watch network again, I've read enough real stories top know whose at fault. That's one of the reasons I had my cable disconnected - there seemed no point in watching something that had me yelling and cursing.
The press is now all about profits, not protecting demicracy.
Yep
This syncs very nicely -- which is to say "terrifyingly" -- with what I've been thinking about a lot lately: Trump Derangement Syndrome, the version that seems all too common among moderate and liberal types. This assumes that once Trump is out of the way, ideally in prison, things will return to "normal." My friends are sick of me pointing out that Trump didn't come out of nowhere and the conditions that made him possible are not going away. But it's true.
Lately, I find myself seeing the same pattern over and over in vvarious situations: the fact that in order to accomplish what you want, you need to do the OPPOSITE of the obvious. There are many examples, and I need to start writing them down, or I don't retain them. i.e. in order to become more prosperous, you need to spend money, rather than hoard it. I've been seeing that everywhere, including in scripture: to gain your life, you must lose it; to be the first, you must be last, and servant of all. But it isn't just scripture! It's everywhere!
That's how I read the message you've shared here: we can't assume everything will stay the same - we have to flip the script upside down and go on the offensive! To keep our way of life, we have to upend the status quo!!
Of course, for those of us in this community, that's what we've been doing. And we have to continue.
THIS: ". . . not being involved in politics every moment of the day is a luxury only present in stable democracies." We've lost that luxury. Maybe, just maaaaaybe, if we understand that in time we can reclaim it. But it will take more work and involvement than most of us ever thought we'd have to take on.
Nail on the head Tom. Grim and terrifying, it perfectly describes this moment.
This is exactly why I continue to handwrite my short notes of warning about fascism on cut up pieces of ad stock or cardboard and placing them between jars of mayo at the market, inside the gas pump handle at the station down the street, as markers inside the occasional magazine at the dentist's office, inside the books I donate for the monthly book sale at the public library, etc. If I found such a handwritten note in an unsuspected place it would give me pause and make me think. If I had any talent I'd pull some Banksy art messages, but alas. This is a true culture war (in all that the term means) and not just a political one and must be fought on many, many fronts.
Thank you Tom for sharing this.
I'm not a normal. 😁
Damn, that’s better than good but I’m still not buying a TV.
Thanks, TC; my thought experiment is simple. It's October 1962; the Russian ships are approaching the quarantine line. Do you want someone who can play chess, or would you rather one who could well use the board to wipe his drawers, which at that point would most likely be full? Find the equivalency in that, fools!
So refreshing to see it all laid out like this! Scary, but refreshing! Now it needs to be repeated over and over and over!
Great piece. Thanks.
"Alt-reich." Thank you for bortowing this column, TC