Open Thread - 10-28-22 - Fool Yourself
We knew this was coming, didn't we.
I was born in 1954. It's hung over my head my whole life. Yours too I bet. I grew up reading dystopian novels, tales of vicarious journeys into the dark side of man, nightmares that lodged themselves into the recesses of our psyches, nudged there by notions that those stories were too wild to be true. After World Wars I and II we knew what mankind was capable of, but we were better than that. Better fools than we would have ourselves believe.
Then came the 1960s and the world turned upside down. Change was in the air. Much of the upheaval in the 60s was about today, we just didn't realize it then. Hell, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. Little did we know, that was the start. The road and the proverbial can were going downhill at an ever quickened pace. The can took the wrong fork somewhere on that road, and we followed.
After the effort for a better world, that was beaten down at the barrel of a gun at Kent State, life became about excess. All the while though, in the back of the mind, it loomed. Mankind seems more adept at rationalization than rationality. Did this predicament we find ourselves in today sneak up on us or did we fool ourselves into believing our own arrogance? Did we look away in lieu of the good life?
Much like Dorian Grey, we sat at the apex of man, and exchanged our nation's youthful vigor for the pleasures of abundance after making a deal with technology, and comfort. That deal is now coming due. And like Dorian, we look at the landscape that reflects our excesses, and we see what we have become. And it's ugly.
In the end, Dorian slashes, with a knife, at the hideous figure staring back at himself in the portrait, and in a stark realization becomes that which he feared. A dark, empty, and rotten shell of a man. Dead by his own hand.
Dorian Grey's deal came due. It appears our deal may have come due as well, untenable, as it is, in its enormity and unfathomable in its scope. We are economically, geopolitically, climatically, and culturally bankrupt and exhausted. Empire will do that.
How is it the state of politics is so out of touch, not only in this country but seemingly world wide? How is it that we have a pinocchio president who is manipulated by strings, has a wooden head and whose brain stalls when he lies? How is it that divide and conquer tactics rule the political world as bones are trampled beneath the soles of the powerful? Why do the two parties seem like they are trying to out-coup the other? In an insane dance we march in lock step to the beat of war drums, and potential nuclear war. Same as it ever was.
How is it that a few billionaires have become so wealthy that they've developed into nations unto themselves? So wealthy they should have there own GDP. Maybe we should think of nation-states as billionaire's personal spheres of influence rather than countries with borders. They wield great influence with a dash of ink on a check. They can move men, markets, mountains and militaries if need be. That's obscene.
I think that is what is at the crux of the turmoil we've seen so much of the last few years. Too few have too much.
Yet, in the back of my mind, lies a kernel of hope. The same hope I've carried with me since the heady days of the 60s. That maybe there's enough humanity left for us to turn the corner.
Or am I just fooling myself?
Comments
Good morning Free Rangers...
what goes up must come down.
Sorry Bruddah
but we’re Jacked at this point it’s been
a (not so) good ride to get here but
here we are wish it
were elsewise oh well
Thanks Johnny for the platform and the life boat y’all
probably would have seen me on film@11 by now
if it weren’t for the invite to climb aboard
I thank whomever offered that hand to me
Just to let all of you know that I appreciate respect
and love all for being here come what
may
find joy in what you can while
you can
peace
edit:spelling
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Yeah, I know...
but I refuse to give up because that's exactly the reaction the FUD is supposed to elicit.
I have no
fear that the assholes that be intend to go out in a blaze of glory, no uncertainty that they don’t care for the little people and no doubt that they would rather burn it all down before they relinquish power willingly.
Eyes wide open
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
The term "Scorched Earth"
has been canceled.
I truly believe TATB think they can survive a nuclear exchange. They will only end up eating each other over the remains that are left.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Word...
My favorite version of "Won't Get Fooled Again", done by Pete Townshend (acoustic, with John Williams for no apparent reason) at the Secret Policeman's Ball, 1979. The look in his eyes when he delivers the "Do you!" is worth the price of admission. Says the quiet part out loud, he does...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNjczDq5D4E]
It's not the fall that kills ya, it's the sudden stop at the end.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
That look in his eye...
is what's missing in today's poor excuse for popular music. That look inspired a generation into movement.
Another lesson the powers-that-shouldn't-be learned all too well.
Pete was a dynamo in his day.
Good morning...
My carpentry crew no showed me. They did give a call to cancel. Back to the drawing board.
To my mind, the hope is in the East. The west has cooked it's goose like Dorian. A cooperative world is at the cusp of happening, BRICS+, belt and road, mutual respect rather than domination, that is if the US doesn't kill us all to stop it.
Where does that leave us westerners? On our own to create our own survival communities.
10 min
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avNiIRNC_R0]
from the comments...
Glad we've started 35 years ago. We're finally getting chickens in the spring.
Thanks for the OT! The world is in flux, and the US empire is in collapse causing distress at home. We're having beautiful fall colors, close to peak. Looks like Texas is finally some rain. Find joy in the little things.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The robber barons...
cooked the West's goose and are licking their chops at the prospect of the East and its resources. The West has been hollowed out and is now a shell of its former self. The baron's zeal has caused the East to circle the wagons. The West huffs and puffs but I seriously doubt that the circle will be broken. The question then becomes will the West back off and make due with what's left or will it go for broke? It's insanity fueled by greed and power.
Back to the dirt, what's left of it anyway, that's the way forward, my friend. Chickens, too.
Hope you find a crew, that's a problem lots of folks are running into nowadays.
Yep, we had a good rain a couple of nights ago and more on the way today.
Have a good one.
I agree completely
Putin and Xi are the only two people on the planet that are powerful enough to free us from this tyranny.
It's gonna get ugly, and hard times are ahead, but we can be free if we plan now for the collapse.
If we wait, TPTB will try to step to the front and lead us back to dystopia under their tutelage.
We must be prepared to stop them then, as we are unable to stop them now.
IMHO
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
We do not own our
reality.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Who needs reality...
when you live in the matrix, when both sides of the narrative are controlled, as your signature defines.
Have you considered enlisting the services of a
realitor, the standard commission is only 10%, plus, of course, taxes and document fees. (A 30% gratuity will be added to all transactions consummated on a day ending in the letter y.)
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 --
Smarty pants! Lol!
I had to read that twice to catch your damn joke!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
100% agree
When you are born afloat in a sea of myths and propaganda, and live in that sea your whole life it's hard to see the world we live in. Each positive action interlocks with the adjacent problems and immobilizes and complicates any solution. That, and the people we hire through elections refuse to do what we want and what we need done.
ars longa vita brevis
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 --
big ALVB fan here... :)
You said it! Ars Longa Vita Brevis! Long live the Nice!
I have this vinyl! 1968 pre ELP Keith Emerson!
Thanks for the mention EL!
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
the most important seminal art rock group
completely awesome impact no one acknowledges.
This video seems fitting here
Is the US trying to duplicate the Russian sanctions scenario (which did not work) with China? Who really is in charge in the US? It damn well is not the 'special needs' Biden. The man is not capable of even dressing himself in the morning.
Read an article yesterday
Maybe it was here, on this same subject. It said that South Korea and Taiwan had received some sort of exemption from these sanctions.
I know this was a major policy objective of the Yoon administration and obviously, the major semiconductor manufacturers there, who have a strong trade with China to get exceptions. Haven't been able to follow any issues there for the last month. (unable to type in hangul on my android either for some strange reason since the hurricane). Those exemptions are significant because this kind of restraint on Taiwan or South Korea is economically untenable. In South Korea it is simply politically unacceptable. It was viewed as a display of incompetence by President Yoon that the sanctions issue with China would adversely affect the South Korean economy and also regarded as a "stab in the back" by the US after major South Korean industries promised to invest billions in the US when Biden was there. This video doesn't even mention this aspect of the sanctions situation.
語必忠信 行必正直
Thanks for the OT, JtC
That fork in the road missed was November, 1963 with the assassination of John Kennedy, the most popular and loved POTUS of my lifetime.
It was visibly downhill after that day.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Ike told us
about the MIC in his farewell address, but nobody really listened. We’re listening now, to a limited extent, but decades too late.
Just look at his face. Despite the bad rotoscope transfer, you can see some emotion there. He might have been the last president with the gravitas to take on our Owners, but even he couldn’t get traction.
The whole Manhattan Project let the camel get its nose inside the tent. The Cold War let it lay down and get comfortable.
It is now the camel’s tent…
[video:https://youtu.be/V9dbBWA5dmA width:300 height:200]
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
of course you fooled yourself, as we all do,
thank God, if we were not fooling ourselves, WWIII would be behind us. What would be so bad about it, if we were to ask that question, one might think. But heh, we are too stupid to ask ourselves this quetiom..
The hope, we still have, is justified. Since when is life predictable ?
And please don't be fooled by Elon Musk,. He is a male charmer with tons of money and as bad as a female seducing influencer chicken. He plays the "Kokkett" (coquettish) like a model. Nothing else. Same fabric as Besoz was made off. Hedge fund managers in their "youth" Money cprrupts your soul, Billionaires are a billion times more corrupted.
Musk is the crookiest charmer, fooling your minds with his 'free speech meme. You do not believe in his meme, right? no way his free speech promise is anything more than a bad joke
No way, he is as bad as all the other former hedege fund manager, Besoz having been one of them.
Get yourself a St. Pauli beer from mimi's convveience store nad have a good nigjht.
And thanks to be able to say whatever shit is on my mind. Some where in flickr I had the imagesl but am too lazy and tired to upload them.
More about Elon Musk
he cut trees and forests to enlarge the area where he build his whatever company. HE is NOT welcome here in Germany by those who think we don't need more cars, but less. It is not about what kind of cars. We don not need cars. Period.
Hi all
Hey JtC, Thanks for the thoughts.
I'm looking for those saner minds and cooler heads that are supposed to prevail. The recalcitrance to negotiation or diplomacy is truly astonishing. I keep thinking, they can't be that stupid, and they keep exceeding my expectations. F!
For ourselves we must remain happy and positive every day regardless of their folly the best we can. And hope they don't permanently F it up for everyone. This bunch seems a bit on the lunatic side though...
Be well brothers and sisters.
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
In a 1945 metaphysical book by René Guénon
titled The Reign of Quantity & The Signs of the Times the author explored the nature of knowledge and its relationship to the larger arcs of the rise and fall of empires. He posits two distinctly different, but related types of knowing. One is the way of science with empirical observation and the collection of data from the “real” word of sensory impressions and quantifiable characteristics. He refers to this as knowledge of Substance. The other type of knowledge he refers to as knowledge of Essence.
Our modern world is clearly dominated by the quantifiable knowledge of Substance and it seems to me that humanity’s paucity of knowledge of Essence suffers as a result. Guénon describes the ebb and flow of balance between these two polar opposites reflected in the rise and fall of empires and civilizations. From his 1940’s vantage point he sees:
In the longer arc of human history these greater or lesser cycles have come and gone. Life, in some form or another has been “reinstated” and gone on to flourish, but that is little comfort for those who’s feet are standing on the ground as the cycle reaches its nadir.
We were always just along for the ride, with a guaranteed expiration date of unknown duration. We humans are far too primitive and ignorant to run (or ruin) the whole show, but we sure could have done a better job of taking care of each other and our planet.
Thanks JtC, for this great forum and the fine folks who come here to share their impressions and questions freely. Sorry I couldn’t come up with something more uplifting than tales of “The End of the World”.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
the end is a smear
on the hiway to eternity
not near nor far
thanks for your notes!
Ask yourself how they can defeat so many of us?
Because we're still here. From the rebels in Babylonia to the radicals in Athens to the freedom fighters in Scotland to the Wobblies in Chicago to the hippie and black movements in the sixties, to the present, we're still here. A lot of us, globally, more than ever, I'm convinced of that, I've been convinced of that for a long time. The potential is tremendous. I've traveled many parts of the world, known many different people from different countries and cultures. We are all the same, so there are people like us all over the world. You can't get the freedom and liberty out of us, it's ingrained. They can't get rid of us, they never will. In fact, the only ones who they will get rid of are those that obey them. Then it will truly be us against them. And we are many therefore they will lose.
Thank you for the timely reminder
of how resilient and strong we still are despite the effort to diminish and dehumanise us.
Thanks janis.
I believe it. Like an old friend of mine used to say, "keep hope alive".
You're welcome Al
Speaking of old friends, do you know anything about LaEscapee?
I wish
I were as optimistic as you are. In the 60's we protested in the March on Washington and the anti war demonstrations in such large numbers we alarmed the moneyed interests, to the extent they declared war on us. Thing is, we didn't know it. We thought we had won. It's not just the right wing. Look at the Obamas administrations tactical plans to deal with Operation Wall Street. If it had grown beyond what we saw there would have been mass bloodshed, martial law and detentions. We have no one to fight for us, except us, and we don't have the stomach for it. Yet. Maybe never.
I'll just leave this here...hope it makes us all feel better....
If it was easy, everyone would do it.