If you're like me and still a little bit baffled about the state of the world, or at least our corner of it, and wondering about what comes next, you could do worse than reflect on this from Jeff Goldblum.
May your splendid torches outshine the selfish little clods ascendant.
Maybe, just maybe, try to make that splendid torch be an example for the selfish clods.
ReplyDeleteOf course, given Shaw’s enamor with the eugenics movement, he might be one of the clods.
i admire your equanimity, marls. i am not there yet. i can understand and reckon with folks who truly worry about economic issues and the impact on their lives. i cannot do so with people who think my child is an abomination and want their enemies to suffer.
ReplyDeleteRob, I get it and understand. I also happen to agree with you in that we should provide no quarter to the actual bigots and racists out there. I take some solace in the fact that I believe the values espoused by Democrats are the values that the country is embracing and will continue to embrace in growing numbers over the coming years. While their values are right, their politics suck. Bernie Sanders is not wrong when he calls out the party.
ReplyDeleteBoomers are now dying at a rate of 7k per day or 2.6M per year. With them are dying some super self centered attitudes and outdated views that they were too old or too stubborn to give up. That also gives me hope. And while younger voters did move towards Trump this time, I really don’t think they are actually aligned with the worst of Trump’s positions.
Maybe I’m being pollyannaish, but frankly I think it is telling the attitude changes even of some of the folks around these parts. Language or attitudes that may have been acceptable around Unit M are no longer embraced. Not because society shamed anyone, but because people have truly change how they feel about things.
i hope very much that you're correct, and on balance i think you probably are, both on the changing values and on the dems' abject suckeration. but we're gonna go through a period where people close to the president are saying things like "your body. my choice." in public and if i heard someone say that anywhere near either of my kids i'm not sure i'd want to be held responsible for my actions. i pray it's a short-lived backlash.
ReplyDeleteMarls is perhaps the last person I would consider to be pollyannaish about anything. So long as we still have free and fair elections, that solace doesn't seem unwarranted.
ReplyDeleteAs for changing attitudes around here, many of us have women in our lives that we value, respect and listen to. It makes some of the stories from the Unit M days seem worse.
lot of data points in support of the marlsyanna. many states that went for that fucking guy also passed progressive reforms for things like climate, transportation, ballot access, and saw their state legislators move to the left. what a weird fucking election.
ReplyDeleteMarls is more of a polyamorous or polyanal type of guy.
ReplyDeletePolypous too.
ReplyDelete'lords of dogtown', it turns out, is an entertaining film with more than a frisson of 'dazed and confused'. it is not, however, a documentary. that's 'dogtown and z-boys', which is on tomorrow's viewing schedule.
ReplyDeleteand by 'frisson', i mean 'scintilla', which is a weird mental glitch.
ReplyDeleteRootsy - your point about the women in our lives is an important one and underscores the continuing societal changes. I don’t have data on it, but I’d be willing to bet that the percentage of gen x men that view their significant others as an equal partner is light years ahead of the boomers
ReplyDeleteAh yes. My error. I saw Dogtown and Z-boys but not the Lords of Dogtown. The latter had Social D covering The Clash.
ReplyDeleteI, too, hope Marls is correct. My concern is that any social and societal empathy that takes root among the youngsters will run head-first into a structure increasingly cemented toward the wealthy (through the courts and corporate interests) and buttressed by a sizeable chunk of the citizenry who want to be left alone or don't give a fig about anyone or anything beyond arm's length.
ReplyDeleteOur particular kids in this conversation - they definitely have the values Marls describes, the concerns as beach Dave writes, the worries directly for those more vulnerable than they in the immediate few years (2 of our 3 are white men), and bc of the bigger and bigger gap with the insanely wealthy running the world, they are seriously pissed off and ready for revolution. And I’m not exaggerating. And this isn’t just my kids. This is how their friends talk, too. I was at WM on Sunday, had lunch with son and friends…they’re ready for the way of things to be upended. Whatever that might look like.
ReplyDeleteyour tribe are 1.5-point home favorites against zman's norfolk state squad this evening. we didn't learn much about brian earl's squad in the opener against an overmatched denison team. this'll be an interesting test.
ReplyDeleteIt was Dickinson, not Denison, robbie.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Tribers played a game since then. We lost 89-77 to Radford. We're now slumming it at #347 in RPI (out of 364).
Not sure what's sloppier, our coverage of the team (beyond OBXDave) or its play.
But for those who can wager on Virginia schools, I'd take the Spartans and 2.5 points.
ReplyDeletei've been too consumed with cnu soccer to pay attention to tribe hoops.
ReplyDeleteHey Donna, if your kids aren't already aware, point them toward a gent named Nick Hanauer. Gazillionaire entrepreneur and investor from the Pacific Northwest. Been banging the drum for a decade -- publicly, anyway -- about income inequality and progressive causes. Pulls back the curtain on how it all works.
ReplyDeleteHas a website called Pitchfork Economics -- as in, 'the masses are coming for the wealthy with pitchforks and torches if they don't address income inequality and predatory capitalism.' Podcasts with guests talking about the system and economic disparities. Blog posts about economic policy and such. "Enjoy" isn't the right word, but I think they, and you, will appreciate and find him enlightening.
The only soccer I follow is CNU soccer. Their last game was awesome and sad at the same time.
ReplyDeletePETE HEGSETH! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAWE'REFUCKED!!!
ReplyDeletetribe wins, 84-73. ten players with five or more points. nine players with two or more assists. eight players with at least one made three. seven players with at least three rebounds. that's a fun mix of things. and radford's handling odu, so that loss may not be all that bad.
ReplyDeleteTo piggyback on rob's rundown: Tribe attempted 46 (!!!!) 3-pointers, out of 67 total FG shots. That's launching. Fifty-one of 84 points off bench.
ReplyDelete