Yep. I'm officially DONE with Neo-Liberal Politics of Comparative Suffering while Wall St. gets unlimited Trillions to perpetuate the predatory commodification of every molecule and wavelength in the Universe.
Loved this piece. Profound common sense about living life, excepting criticism, and diffusing the impacts of past intellectual knowledge. I will add that the constitution, regardless of the foibles of those that wrote it, is exceptional because it is about freedom and the absence of a boot on your neck.
I am referring to the principles of the constitution, not what happens when people corrupt it. Same for the New Testament, the goodness is there, it just isn't followed. Here is a history lesson for you John, the original inhabitants of this land were murdered by the very people you see as original inhabitants. BTW, as it turned out women, men without property can vote because people changed and evolved.
Wha? I have dear friends among the original inhabitants. I lived and worked on the Navajo Nation for 3 wonderful years. You've probably never met one. As for The Constitution, the people who 'corrupted' it are the same ones who wrote it. You giving me a 'history lesson' is laughable.
You do need a history lesson, in fact start with History 101. The Navajo came into existence 10,000 years after the original inhabitants. It was the Clovis culture way before the Navajo nation. There is zero possibility you have friends among the original inhabitants, they were wiped out be subsequent tribes. In fact native inhabitants routinely killed each other, much like the rest of humanity. You seem a bit confused at best. Mostly it's probably because you were taught an idealized version of how all natives got along in a utopian world.
LOL. This entire exchange is a classic example of the dangers of discussion on social media, or whatever this is. By the way, what does 'excepting criticism' mean? Wear your mask!
Update. The Detroit Lions (0-10-1) have once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Literally, they were ahead with 1 second left on the clock.
*i'm going to continue to be a happy idiot and say that can't last forever .. . but recognize there's a fine line between delusion and optimism.
Matt, every year I find more things to be thankful for, and turkey day remains my favorite holiday. To help make it so, I don't associate the day I spend with its traditional meaning. As for your lambasting of Howard Zinn, I think your misinterpretation of his writings is akin to what caused Marx to declare, "I am not a Marxist.' To suggest that Zinn was so naive as to think that all working people are 'saints' and all the ruling class are some kind of devilish criminals is to rob him of his understanding that it is the SYSTEM and its need for unending expansion that dictates their behaviors. Ultimately, neither morals nor intent have anything to do with it. One can't be a 'moral capitalist,' and it's why capitalism cannot be adequately 'reformed.'
Is not true that the human condition and its exposure to suffering has been greatly reduced as a result of capitalism? And is that not moral? What other system has lifted more people out of starvation , poverty, disease ,prevented war and raised the living standard of virtually every inhabitant on the globe? Is it not the fair exchange of goods for profit?
'prevented war?' Really? The USA, since its founding, has had 14 years of peace, a fact that led Jimmy Carter to state that it was the most warlike nation of all time. As for the rest, you wouldn't accept a thing I said, anyway.
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, moreso today with the emphasis on gratitude for all that sustains life. I am 90 yrs old and have recently reread Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States". I find it as relevant and accurate today as when it first became a
best seller in the 1980s. And he didn't even live to witness the present horrors perpetrated by the US empire. I wager his book, lectures and activism did more than any other historian to dis-
pell the myth of American exceptionalism for generations of young and not so young students,
Oikophobia is a disease. Put things in context and let's work to rid ourselves of that which we find evil amongst us, but let's not tear down what is good in doing so.
Yep. I'm officially DONE with Neo-Liberal Politics of Comparative Suffering while Wall St. gets unlimited Trillions to perpetuate the predatory commodification of every molecule and wavelength in the Universe.
Loved this piece. Profound common sense about living life, excepting criticism, and diffusing the impacts of past intellectual knowledge. I will add that the constitution, regardless of the foibles of those that wrote it, is exceptional because it is about freedom and the absence of a boot on your neck.
Oh, really? Tell that to the slaves, the original inhabitants, all women and all White men without property. Get off the Kool-aid, Don!
I am referring to the principles of the constitution, not what happens when people corrupt it. Same for the New Testament, the goodness is there, it just isn't followed. Here is a history lesson for you John, the original inhabitants of this land were murdered by the very people you see as original inhabitants. BTW, as it turned out women, men without property can vote because people changed and evolved.
Wha? I have dear friends among the original inhabitants. I lived and worked on the Navajo Nation for 3 wonderful years. You've probably never met one. As for The Constitution, the people who 'corrupted' it are the same ones who wrote it. You giving me a 'history lesson' is laughable.
You do need a history lesson, in fact start with History 101. The Navajo came into existence 10,000 years after the original inhabitants. It was the Clovis culture way before the Navajo nation. There is zero possibility you have friends among the original inhabitants, they were wiped out be subsequent tribes. In fact native inhabitants routinely killed each other, much like the rest of humanity. You seem a bit confused at best. Mostly it's probably because you were taught an idealized version of how all natives got along in a utopian world.
LOL. This entire exchange is a classic example of the dangers of discussion on social media, or whatever this is. By the way, what does 'excepting criticism' mean? Wear your mask!
How so? Never mind I don't really care. You couldn't refute what was said, so off on a tangent you go.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of us. It is not better but also - it is not worse --- we do live in CONTINUITY.
FBI and Edgar Hoover unconstitutional surveillance === CIA-FBI and St. Obama, Clapper, Brennan, Hayden === SAME despicable dangerous bastards.
Nothing changed but -- we should no longer buy in them spreading fear -- to control us...
Update. The Detroit Lions (0-10-1) have once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Literally, they were ahead with 1 second left on the clock.
*i'm going to continue to be a happy idiot and say that can't last forever .. . but recognize there's a fine line between delusion and optimism.
Ya, I still think Thanksgiving sucks.
Matt, every year I find more things to be thankful for, and turkey day remains my favorite holiday. To help make it so, I don't associate the day I spend with its traditional meaning. As for your lambasting of Howard Zinn, I think your misinterpretation of his writings is akin to what caused Marx to declare, "I am not a Marxist.' To suggest that Zinn was so naive as to think that all working people are 'saints' and all the ruling class are some kind of devilish criminals is to rob him of his understanding that it is the SYSTEM and its need for unending expansion that dictates their behaviors. Ultimately, neither morals nor intent have anything to do with it. One can't be a 'moral capitalist,' and it's why capitalism cannot be adequately 'reformed.'
Is not true that the human condition and its exposure to suffering has been greatly reduced as a result of capitalism? And is that not moral? What other system has lifted more people out of starvation , poverty, disease ,prevented war and raised the living standard of virtually every inhabitant on the globe? Is it not the fair exchange of goods for profit?
'prevented war?' Really? The USA, since its founding, has had 14 years of peace, a fact that led Jimmy Carter to state that it was the most warlike nation of all time. As for the rest, you wouldn't accept a thing I said, anyway.
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, moreso today with the emphasis on gratitude for all that sustains life. I am 90 yrs old and have recently reread Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States". I find it as relevant and accurate today as when it first became a
best seller in the 1980s. And he didn't even live to witness the present horrors perpetrated by the US empire. I wager his book, lectures and activism did more than any other historian to dis-
pell the myth of American exceptionalism for generations of young and not so young students,
as well as for others who care about our history.
Oikophobia is a disease. Put things in context and let's work to rid ourselves of that which we find evil amongst us, but let's not tear down what is good in doing so.
https://quillette.com/2019/10/07/oikophobia-our-western-self-hatred/