Open Thread - 09-23-22 - Reflections
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What would our ancestors think of us now?
All of history, millennia actually, is held within these precious moments in time. Held in suspension like an overburdened tear drop, straining from the weight of it's own making. Could any of our predecessors have envisioned our modern world, as it is foreign terrene even to ourselves. I don't know, maybe they could, but I doubt it. Hell, I can't believe it myself.
I came of age in the chaos of the late 60s, an era of change, much like today. It was an existential time, as it is today, for a young man about to reach the age when the government could reach out and rapture you up and spit you out in a jungle in southeast Asia. We were conditioned for that time when it was our turn to serve the empire, our archetypal duty to society, post WW II and Korea. I had been trained for that since the mid 50s, at birth. The television, the movies, the magazines, the comic books, were our teachers. I got a special taste of it in my mid teens.
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I went to high school in a small town in northern Illinois from 1968 to 1972. It was a particularly tumultuous time, both in my life and in the life of the nation. Around that time I was introduced to The Chicago Seed, an underground newspaper. The Seed, the coverage of the Vietnam war on the nightly news, friends, and weed changed me from the jock I was to the anti war activist that I became. There was one other factor that helped in that transition, our high school military program.
There were only a hand full of high schools across the nation that had a military program that wasn't ROTC affiliated. My high school was one of those. The program started after WW I and ended in the early 70s, right after I finished high school. We males had to participate in military class every Thursday through our sophomore and junior years. If we didn't participate then we weren't allowed to graduate. We also had to attend a military review at the end of the year for those two years, where we had to march around in the gym in front of our parents. Again if you didn't attend the military review you weren't allowed to graduate. There were exemptions but they were hard to get.
In the class we had to dress in military uniforms that were provided for us, we called them monkey suits. We had to learn how to march in cadence, flip rifles around in all the various positions, the proper way to salute, how to take commands, you know, all that brain washing stuff.
There were ranks, our squad leader went on to a full military career. The conditioning worked on some of my friends as well, they joined the service after high school. Some of them didn't come home. That hardened my anti war resolve that I carry with me to this day. The program's purpose of creating fodder for the proverbial cannon also produced many who fought the war machine. Such as it was in that day, and I hope, such as it is for this day.
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Our present may be taken from us, as can our future, but the past is ours forever.
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?
― Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder
Some day we'll all return to the stars from whence we came.
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"When a man dies a library dies with him." ~ Unknown
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Have a good one folks.
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Comments
Good morning Free Rangers...
Not only did my high school's military program end right after I graduated but the ban on long hair ended right after as well.
One year, my sophomore year I think, I had hair that had had grown down over the top of my ears. That was taboo. I was called into the office of doom. I told the principle that I couldn't afford a hair cut so he then gave me the money and told me not to return until my hair was cut. The bastid.
"So the sign said
long-haired freaky people need not apply..."
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeT5otk2R1g width:400 height:300]
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
It was a flag...
a freak flag. I finally cut it around 1980. I changed my flag but still flew the same colors.
The conditioning of minds has only gotten worse
Excellent essay from Yves
Is ‘Seize Now, Sort It Later’ Itself an Assault on Liberty?
This comment sums up the shitlibs.
Bingo. WSWS posted an essay on how democrat voters were all of a sudden excited to vote for ex intelligence and ex military people after decades of saying that they were against what they stood for and they have gone even further into wackamania thinking just because democrats told them for 5 years that Trump was very dangerous and a bad man. And he worked with Putin to steal Hellabitch’s coronation. Even though every part of Russia gate has been debunked they won’t let go of the fairytale. Plus Russia gate manufactured consent for war against Russia. The xenophobia they spout about Russians is off the charts. I often ask them what they do if someone said that about Israel and Jewish people. I get a blank look…
I’m not sure when I turned anti war. The only thing I remember about the Vietnam war was the POW bracelets that were in fashion and cool. Got mine at the Ogden airport, but don’t remember why I was there. Maybe some POWs had come home or something.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
It is truly amazing...
how easily people can be led around by their nose rings. It's getting pretty obvious where this all leads to.
Great articles, thanks snoops.
All True, Snoop
The larger world has no idea that referendums have been called for for months by the oppressed people of the LPR and DPR.
Russia is the language of the Donbas and the Nazi white power heavies have been torturing the rightful residents for 8 years. (Minsk agreements, hahahaha)
The MSM persists in framing what is happening as "Russia invading Ukraine."
Unbelievable.
I'd acknowledged the propaganda before my temporary leave of absence from my mind and body, but now it seems impossible that the Big Lies have been so overwhelming.
NYCVG
I’m constantly on the Twit explaining to people about that
How Ukraine has been attacking their own citizens in the Donbas just because they refused to accept the results of Obama’s brutal coup in 2014 and don’t want to be ruled by actual Nazis. Most people who reply to me have no idea that happened or that those Nazi bastards have been torturing and killing Ukrainians in other areas there. Imagine if Trump supporters taped people to light poles and invited others to hit them with weapons they supplied. The media would be all over that, but they are silent on what has been happening over there. Most don’t know about the 14,000 people who have been killed either.
But sure it’s Russia propaganda to point that out. Or being pro Putin.
Americans have no idea about the level of propaganda and brainwashing they are subjected to daily. They believe that Russia just decided to do an unprovoked attack on Ukraine because….reasons.
Hope you are recovering from your event. Just take it easy and take your time. I’ve been there and have the T shirt.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Sorry to hear
But it is great news that recovery is happening already and full recovery? IDK, but may be possible.
You seem 100%. So great things are possible.
NYCVG
Actually I’m nowhere near a full recovery
No one knows how much work it takes me to sound coherent and how many mistakes I make before I hit save on my comments, but I have recovered a lot since it happened. My memories are hit and miss and the joke with my friends is was I there? Then we all laugh, but it took me years to get over feeling embarrassed about my memories. They are like an alcoholic blackout where short term memories aren’t saved to my hard drive. It is what it is and I know how lucky I was.
I was also young when mine happened and I still wonder how I was able to teach myself my career as an ophthalmic photographer and the anatomy of the eye and ophthalmology because I learned it just after it happened and during a time I was experiencing great pain. Most days now I’m in a lot of pain and on high meds for it. But lol it still gets through when I screw up the grammar in my comments and thank gawd for spellcheck. Again it is what it is. I think some of the worst aspects of a brain injury is that people feel shame over it unlike no one feels shame if they break their arm or have other health issues that they have no control over it. I finally decided that when I’m feeling dumb at least I’m still here to feel it and shrug and move on.
Like others have said just take your time healing and accept you are where you are and hopefully tomorrow is better. You are still here and that’s lucky for all of us!
ETA
I just remembered how when I first started posting here how frustrated I would get when I couldn’t remember what people said when I replied to their comments and I had to scroll back up to read them over and over until someone mentioned that we could open reply in a new tab and the comment was right there. I still do that and hopefully it helps others if they don’t know about the trick. Thanks to the person who first mentioned it! It’s saved a boatload of frustration and swear words for me.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
You just taught me a new trick!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Sometimes having a time out
when you get back to basics, the 'new' reality seems a bit off.
Trust me when I say, this is the same as it ever was. You are lucky
to see it with newly unfogged eyes. Hope you get better soon.
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
Thanks, QMS.
NYCVG
Dress Codes
I grew up like you outside of a large city, (Detroit) in the lily-white suburbs. I also remember getting rid of the dress code around 1970. The stupidest thing about having a dress code was that girls could not wear pants. I guess you learn better in a dress.
My high school was small. Only around 1500 students compared to the others which had around 3000-5000 or more kids. That is probably why we did not have any ROTC programs, but the military did come in at the end of the year to talk to the senior boys graduating. The girls had something else, which I can't even remember what it was.
My high school's...
military program wasn't ROTC based. The school implemented the program on it's own and forced us to participate. I remember it said that there was only 4 or 5 high schools across the nation that had programs like that.
We had another unconventional program as well. During the winter we had a swimming class in the indoor pool. There were separate pools for the girls and boys. The boys had to swim in the nude. Some were allowed to abstain from the class if they objected. Not me, it didn't bother me, I loved swimming and could swim like a fish. It did get kind of awkward though when we played water polo.
The girls got to wear swim suits.
Thanks for your reflections, Enchantress.
un-dress code
now that's a horse of a different color!
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
One other little tidbit...
before we could enter the pool, our instructor that we called Squid, would line us all up and inspect us for lice before we could jump in the pool. We called it cheese-checks.
Yes, that actually happened.
I was one of the top athletes in my school
but I got a D in gym because I wouldn’t shower. The teacher was my friend and said that she would give me an A if I just showered on the last day. I got a D. Glad I wasn’t a boy at your school. Did any of them refuse to swim naked?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Yes...
some did and were exempted. I didn't give a shit, it was the best part of the day for me.
Good morning JtC et. y'all. We is back.
I believe that it is by now well established that there has never been a time as fucked up as this. For the record, I didn't fuck it up, nor, I hear, did Katie Goodman. So where does that leave us?
Beyond that, I doubt that any larger cultural milieu has ever had a place for the proudly incorrigible, but that's a different matter. After all, with randomness in the universe there should exist at least one time-space that isn't totally fucked up, but this clearly ain't it.
A couple of telling facts about our situation, both a bit aged and both from Gore Vidal
and the real central fact about today's reality and the entire history of the US, also from Vidal:
Which is why we cannot solve this crisis or dig our way out, because everybody want's be be on top or at least ahead of everybody else. Nobody whatsoever is satisfied, and this fact has been the goal of the political, financial, and merchant classes from day one. It is a sin against everything that our country and its economy stand for to simply put your hands in your pockets and declare yourself to be satisfied with what you have. Meanwhile, of course, it is impossible to be satisfied with the socio-political milieu and the operation of the economy, though tptb will insist that that this is the best of all possible worlds in that respect. Thus, angst abounds.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Exactly right, mi hermano...
decades of televised propaganda pitting our psyches against our neighbors, both near and far, in an endless cycle of envy/keeping up with the Jones. It's not evident to the eyes that cannot see, until ones opts out of the game.
Anyway, that shit is so deeply ingrained that it probably wont change until mankind has a collective frontal lobotomy, a reset of reason, if you will.
I have one little addition for the Vidal quote:
Thanks old buddy and welcome back!
OMG
All objections to the miasmic fog of bullshit Lies have been strangled. No protests on the horizon, as far as I can see.
Please tell me that I am mistaken.
Can the American Idiot thing really be all That Remains???
NYCVG
A heads up for those who might be impacted.
Interesting that the projection
goes from H ( > 75 mph) to M ( > 110) when it hits western FL.
Sheedaddles.
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
Thanks for the heads up, humphrey...
I'm thankful for the model that shows it's not heading for Texas where I live, and I'm fearful for our friends in Florida.
Yep swimming in the nude for guys was mandatory in
Chicago also. For me it was a horrible situation as I hadn't fully
reached manhood being the youngest kid in the class. Plus it was
the first year that our HS bussed afro-americans in. Those were
the days my friend.
Pancreatitus kept me out of Nam. I had actually passed the physical
and then asked to see to see the Major/Colonel and showed him my
Doctor's paper and he promptly gave me a 4-F
Why we average americans can't have things explained in one sentence
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
I did some research...
on the nude swimming classes a few years ago and it happened in pockets around the upper midwest, not just northern Illinois. I don't know if it's still happening but with the woke thing it wouldn't surprise me.
That video is accurate and amusing. I explain it as, "pennies trickle down while dollars float upwards".
Chicago will probably become much more interesting with the new Safe-T Act, be careful out there my friend.
Unfortunately it's a tad too late to be anything but
accomplished everything a pig could dream of, being going to work
with the only action is to make sure they get home safely.
One hardly ever see's a pig on the street when you might need one
but as soon as there is a shooting 100+ show up to do what 10-20
can do. City government under Rahm/Lightfoot has failed.
Under neoliberalism this is a feature not a bug
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Down Memory Lane
Your post reminded me of the good times c. (1969-70) I had exploring Old Town with my college suitemate, who was from Chicagoland. We rejected the war and materialism and believed things would change. The atmosphere of Old Town reinforced these ideas. That bubble burst with Kent State and for the last 40+ years, only the memories exist. Recenrly, I checked up on that old suitemate. She is a rabid right-wing Republican.
Back in my DKos days...
I PMed OPOL during one of his diaries and asked him what happened to our generation. We were going to change things and instead things went to hell. He attributed it to Kent State as well. Getting shot down by the man will do that to a movement.
I have a couple of friends that are instructors at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I haven't been there for decades, what a cool place that was.
I'm pretty sure your avatar is a scene from south central or southern Illinois, it's beautiful there.
Thanks Karl.
You Guessed It
So you were raised like the Hitler Youth to fight against Nazis?
Hey Mimi, don't cry
The amount of misery the US is causing the world is about as bad as any dictatorship in
the past. Hope some live to see its' defenestration.
truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security
Don't take the ...
nazi reference wrong. I was highlighting how the propaganda that is so prevalent today was around when I was a wee lad as well. We've been programmed by our cultures.
There's plenty of guilt to go around for WW II on all sides.
i didn't get your Nazi reference wrong, don't worry.
Germany's Nazi force
was sponsored and armed by U.S. corporations before and for the duration of the war. My feeling is that the German people were victims as were everyone else.
And as for being propagandized into supporting the Nazis, the American people today are unwittingly doing the very same thing. It seems it is shockingly easy to create this catastrophe.
unwittingly ... that reminds me of what
my motther replied to my sister when she (my sister) asked my mother what she thought of Hitler etc.when she (my mother) was young in 1936 (17 years old).
"Ob, we were in love (she and my father, highschool sweethearts so to speak)".So apparently there was much "schmusing and knutsching" and not much thinking.
That's just as it is or was. What else is new?7
I hope someone can translate 'schmusen und knutschen' ...:)
Hi all,
Hi all, Hey JtC, Hope all are well!
GREAT reflections JtC! Yeah man what a heady time to come of age. I was a year behind you. My first three years of high school were in tract home in Huntington Bch, CA when it was 40k people and cool.
Last year 72-73 was in a fairly redneck town in east central CA, Big Pine. The place was awesome, but the people fairly intellectually challenged. Were 22 in graduating class, half were dead in 10 years. My 12th grade required American Government class text in Big Pine was my 8th grade Hunt. Bch. Junior High Am. Gov. text. Academically, four years behind! Just 256 miles from L.A.
High School in H.B. was 4000 kids in a newer suburban four-year high school with a) a moat around it, b) cement single story block house rooms, c) with no outside windows. A police officer with the H.B. badge Number 1. Obie Moore. That's right, Obie. 6'6" and about a hundred pounds wet. But a world class industrial arts department where any kid could learn trade level skills by graduation. At the prison. They also had the best extra-curricular experiments in chemistry for mind and body clubs.
I was applying for jobs at 18 to run a Multi 1250 litho press (for horrible pay). From my socialist public high school education. Then later got a good job (in '75) due to my years of woodshop and actually was at one time a custom cabinet maker.
In 1970 I was 15, a sophmore in the protests and sit-ins that got the hair length code abolished for boys, and made it so girls could wear pants. The thrill of it all. As a freshman they checked hair after P.E. showers, it could not go over the collar, when wet. You should have seen us a year later. The barber shops were complaining to the moms. We had olympic pools, but would have been suspended or worse if one did not wear their gym shorts and jock.
We were interestingly required to take a year of foreign language amongst those required elements to graduate. I always heard there were only four countries that did not promote bilingualism: the U.S., the U.K., Oz and New Zealand. English speaking snobs. I thought it was a great requirement, most hated it. But there were 5 languages offered, four years of each! I just did my one. My wife that went to LA Co. schools had no such requirement. In JUNIOR high, 8th grade, we were also required to take a year of Spanish to graduate. In totally white new tract homes suburban Hunt. Bch, Orange Co. CA. So I took Spanish again in high school. Later after high school took an adult school class in it too... slow but dauntless learner here.
Interesting thoughts on Kent State, it was a shocking game changer and a rude awakening. Yes they would kill us. Probably a lot decided it would be easier to just shut up and keep the head down. And then went on to do so in various institutions, corporate, or gov. service. Most of the gang sold out and walked on to the machine, sucking up the slime oozing out of their TV sets. Took the job for the toys, here in status symbol land.
Most became either bluenomatterwhos or rabidrepubs, the parties of war and Wall St., both of whom we had so detested in the idealism of youth. As was so well represented in the music of the day. White collar conservative pointing his plastic finger at me, the man in the suit just bought a new car from the profit he made on your dreams. etc., ad. inf.
I didn't change my values and ideals, they did. Like the Democratic Party inc. now of war and wall st. They abandoned me and my principles which have remained unwavering. Love, peace, happiness, and pacifism for all. Come on let's work together.
Realizing this is a bit trite...
Reflections - Interesting live version, unlike radio single, with no horns, etc.
Thanks for the reflections fearless leader!
best all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
What a celebration of reflections, dystopian
Thank you for your ever enduring idealism.
Testify brother...
lest we know the chronicle that we leave behind.
You got it man, we need to tell our stories of life during the apex. The future needs to know what was lost.
Thank you, my friend. I hope to say that over a drink some day.
We had a dress code.
When I got to 9th grade, girls were allowed to wear pants on Fridays, and could wear curlers in their hair. The curlers thing gave the cheerleaders and baton twirlers who would be performing at the football games a chance to look their best.
The code went nuts during the days of mini-skirts. A male teacher called me out of class, had me kneel down on the floor, and he measured knee top floor to hem bottom. It exceeded 3 inches, but he said since I had such pretty legs, he would ignore the rule.
The next time any man required me to let the touch me I told them I would go home and stay home for 3 days. No, they were not going to measure me or paddle me.
Typically, the school counselor would come to the house, speak with my parents, and when they stood firmly with me, I would be allowed back in school the next day. I spent my day of riding my horses around the edge of the campus, chatting with my school mates.
I also got damned tired of a couple of teachers who scored everyone in the class on a scale of 100. Except me. For me to get a perfect score, I had to score 120. I was given permission to stay out of those 2 classes, do a self-study and write lots of essays, under the supervision of the librarian. One of the teachers got fired for what she did to me.
Girls weren't allowed to take industrial arts. (drafting.) Well, I raised hell, got to take it. My jobs as a drater helped send me to law school.
I took correspondence courses and summer school, graduated early, headed to Baylor. More dress code, and mandatory church attendance. I was glad to get out of there and finish up at another university.
For all the hell raising I did in school, years later, I have taken on legal work for my former principal, a couple of my teachers, and the superintendent who tried successfully to paddle me.
When in doubt, raise hell.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981