I have decided to forego and Saturday Post and save my limited Energies for a Game-Ending Superbowl Sunday Post! Come back on Superbowl Sunday to see my irritating words! [I loath the Superbowl!]
Jeffrey
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Off Today to Recover from a Minor Illness
I am OFF TODAY because of a Minor Illness. I should be back in Verbal Combat Form over the Weekend. In the meantime, read all the other wonderful Posts I have made this year, and DONATE SOMETHING using the Button Below. I would not have caught this Minor Illness if you had DONATED before!
Jeffrey
Thursday, February 2, 2012
What Happened to "Our Good Old United States?"
Have you ever heard anyone you know talk about how things have "changed so much in this Country"? I have heard many people talk about their perception that American Values are being lost to the numerous changes that the Country is undergoing. I find that concept a curious one, since the United States that I live in has NEVER been all that great. I wonder what wonderful American Values I have been missing out on?
There is an interesting, if not shameful, mythology built up around the History of the United States of America. There are songs, speeches, mottos, and jingoisms that proclaim the Superiority, "Freedom," and "Liberty" that the United States represents in the World. It is frequently billed, at least by American Media, Government, and Business, as the "most Democratic and Free Nation in the World." Such claims always make jaded and Doubting Assholes like myself cringe, however.
On top of the obvious and clear Elitism that such statements represent, there is the question of whether or not such claims even approach Reality. Is the United States the "Freest Nation in the World"?
Apparently, there may be some actual debate as to whether or not the United States is actually the "Freest Nation on Earth." Even though it is hard to find anyone inside the United States willing to publicly suggest that other Countries may actually be freer than this one, it would seem that such people [aside from myself] actually DO exist.
There is a commonly used term for people who do not fully buy into the idea that America is not the "Greatest and Freest Nation Ever": Terrorists. The Newscorp giant Fox News has made this idea into an ongoing Industry. American Exceptionalism is the CORE of Fox News programming. Without the idea that God has Ordained the existence and dominance of the United States, Fox News would be nothing but . . . well . . . a very poorly produced stream of lies.
What troubles me most about the mythology of America the Great is the fact that it is a statement made outside of any objective criteria. Even though there are those who try to quantify "Freedom," there is really no scientifically and time tested method of determining how "Free" a Country actually is. Since the word "Freedom" means very different things to different people, it would seem unlikely that there ever could be a standard on which to base any comparisons.
In many respects, belief in American Exceptionalism is a lot like belief in Bigfoot. You can either disbelieve completely because no one has conclusively proven it to be real, or accept the grainy photos and lack of scientific evidence as only proof that there is a lack of will to find it. Since our Media is very adept at making Money via such uncertainties - as the abundance of shows and movies about both American Exceptionalism AND Bigfoot might show - it is hard to get anyone to do any actual Empirical Research on either subject.
Yet, the belief persists among many in the United States that things were somehow better in the past. The losses of "Freedoms" or "Liberties" mentioned in the Link above could actually have been noted, in one form or another, at any period in our History where similar or Parallel Circumstances or Technologies existed. Phone Taps have been done without Court Orders ever since Phones have existed, and people have been subject to unannounced and broad search and detainment for as long as the United States has existed. The difference now is that we have, in ever advancing Technologies, better ways of distributing information about such abuses without the assistance of the Mainstream Media.
So, while many in the Cold War Middle Class Anglo Neighborhoods of the Midwest have always thought their communities different from Urban Inner City Neighborhoods of Color, those differences may not have been so great as imagined. Murder, Rape, Theft, and all other manner of Criminal Activity takes place everywhere on Earth. In the United States, some communities have had the attention of the Media on their Crime for decades, while other communities have not.
When a couple of Mentally Ill youngsters killed a large number of High School Students at an affluent suburban High School in Colorado, suddenly there was Media Attention. It is not that Crime never existed in Columbine before the two Mentally Ill youngsters committed Mass Murder, it is just that the Media did not take an interest in reporting on Crime in Columbine before that point. Hence, the idea that Crime happens in places like Columbine, ridiculously and perversely shocked the Nation and the World.
You may not wish to pay to read the full Article, but that is not a problem. The fact that someone in the Academic Community perceived that there could be a difference between levels of, and the nature of, Crimes in "Nonmetropolitan" Areas [read in the word "Urban" here], should be enough to let one know that perceptions of about this subject may vary. [I know, long sentence!] But what does this have to do with American Exceptionalism?
Well, for one thing, it highlights the way that perceptions about the Nature of Life inside the United States can vary. For many people living in areas of the United States where a large number of Crimes have statistically been noted to happen more frequently, people may perceive themselves to be less safe. As a result, those people may have perceptions and ideas about Freedom in the United States that may be slightly less than optimistic that those who live in heavily protected and affluent Gated Communities, where Crime may happen less often. If that is the case, then the perceptions of different Communities may very well have varied throughout American History. People in the poorest of Communities did not often determine what went into our History Books, however. Those kinds of decisions were generally left to those in seats of power and authority.
If the Occupy Wall Street Movement has done anything useful at all, it is to highlight that there is clearly a vast difference in the way different Groups of People in the United States are experiencing Life here.
For the Richest People in this Nation, Life is going fairly well. For the Middle Class and Poor, it may not going so well.
Has there really ever been a point in American History where the majority of Citizens lived a comfortable and contented Lifestyle?
Up until about the start of the 20th Century, the overwhelming majority of people in the United States were involved in the Business of Agriculture in one manner or another - most either had extremely small Subsistence Farms, or worked as Laborers on the Farms of others. Most lived had incomes that would likely be considered "Below Poverty Level" by current standards, and extremely few people actually lived with what might be considered "Creature Comforts."
It was only after the end of the Second World War that the Middle Class in the United States grew notably, and many saw previously unheard of improvements in their standard of living. It was actually at this point that the idea of the American Dream became a limited Reality for some.
Incomes have not continued to grow, however. Real Personal Incomes have actually decreased, and most families can no longer survive without Multiple Incomes in a single Household.
So, as we look back at History, we see that for most, Life has not been all that peachy in the United States. As the concept of "Free Speech" was recently equated to Money by the Supreme Court's Citizens United Decision, it could be argued that the average person in the United States has less "Free Speech" than ever, because they have less Economic Power to work with.
As for actual Civil Rights, with the realization of the Patriot Act and other Laws which have expanded the Power of the State, and diminished the Rights of Individuals, it would really be hard to argue that we have more Civil Rights than ever.
I would hope that no one would argue that the Pre-Civil-War United States was a land of fantastic Liberties. Until 1865, and the end of Slavery in the United States, people could still be held as Indentured Servants, as part of a Contract, or as part of fulfilling a Court Determined Legal Debt. People who owed too much Money could be put in prison, and property was regularly taken away from people by corrupt Local Governments. The Supreme Court actually recently expanded the Eminent Domain Laws to include confiscation of property for Business Purposes, so an ongoing sketchy Governmental practice is now legal.
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So, if we look honestly at our History, we will see that we have not actually had as many Rights or Advantages as all the Jingoistic noise might suggest. Our Nation has been one of great Economic Disparity for the largest majority of its History, and Property Rights & Privacy Rights have always been granted in absolute deference to Political Expediency, and Corruption.
Now I go back to wondering: What parts of past American Life and Values are so many people supposedly pining for? Could it actually be a point before they actually became aware of just how much we are like the rest of World in our not-so-well-hidden imperfections? If so, perhaps it is their lack of awareness has helped allow those imperfections to go resolved until now. Just something to think about.
Peace and Compassion to you.
Jeffrey
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
An Election Day Break
Today, I am taking a little break for Election Day. As much as I would LOVE to post long and irritating Opinions everyday of the year, I am limited by the fact that I am busy with other projects, and desperately poor. So, I will be back tomorrow with more irritants and witticisms.
In the meantime, if you really like the kind of information and humor that I bring you, consider making a reasonable donation to me. I can't offer you any tax deduction, but I can tell you that I will be very grateful for your assistance. I am actually just a poor slob who is working to assist others, and actually studying to be a Soto Zen Buddhist Priest. I have a Wife and a Teenage Son, and Bills to pay like everyone else in the World [everyone else who is not already fabulously Rich, that is]. There is a button for contributions on the right side of this Blog, and I can promise that donations will actually mainly translate into assisting me in my service to others anyways - yes, I actually DO THAT.
Peace and Compassion to you.
Jeffrey
Monday, January 30, 2012
Newton Leroy McPherson
I will not try and hide my loathing of, or disgust with, Newton Leroy McPherson, who later took the adopted family name of Gingrich. I believe him to be a deeply disturbed Sociopath. If that bias is beyond what you can withstand, do not read the rest of this Post. I am being upfront and honest in my position, however, and my reasons for making this Post should be obvious before you are done reading it.
Newt is running in 2012 as a Candidate for the Office of President of the United States, and as a Member of the Republican Party. Unless you live in a Cave in China, and possibly even then, you have likely seen him making the Conservative version of Quixotic Statements across the Media. And, much like the delusional character Don Quixote, his reality rarely matches the Reality that the rest of us experience.
Many consider Newt to be an extremely gifted Rhetorician. I am not certain that I agree with that assessment, as it is based on the Theory that he actually says things of substance. What he does do very well is hurl insults, and spout Racist and Classist jingoisms. Most of the time when one fact-checks his utterances, one finds that he appears to be experiencing a disconnect from Objective Reality - read in here that he is lying and/or distorting Reality very frequently.
Lest someone begin to get the idea that I am solely opposed to Gingrich based on his Political Party Affiliation, let me ease your Mind by letting you know that I consider Barack Hussein Obama to be a Sociopath as well. Hopefully that will sufficiently annoy everyone enough to establish that I am not basing my dislike of Gingrich on any bias of mine towards the Democratic Party. I loath all Political Parties equally.
What stands out about Newt though, is how emboldened he is to making the most vile and offensive statements one could imagine, without any seeming acknowledgement that he is doing so. One could only imagine that he would be an expert at passing Lie Detector Interviews, as he seems so clearly at ease with Lies, Distortions, Racism, and Classism.
Furthermore, he is a Master of the Indignant Rejoinder. Newt seems to have no problem accusing others of the very things he routinely does. He attacks Mitt Romney with a series of ad hominem statements, then gets indignant when Romney replies in a similar fashion. That is something that one might expect from the immature Mind of an Elementary School Student, but not so much from someone who supposedly has a Doctorate in History, and is asking to become the Supreme Diplomatic Voice for the United States of America.
Newt's disconnect from Reality seems to permeate every area of his Public Service. His Political Platform is a collection of Ideas and Programs that are loosely reminiscent of ideas presented by Adolf Hitler, during his rise to power.
Pay close attention to the section entitled "Hitler's Political Views." The section contains excerpted statements by Hitler himself.
If you are lonely and isolated enough to have time to go through the various Platform Items on Newt's Website, you might be shocked by the number of close similarities between his ideas and those of Adolf Hitler. While he may claim that the differences are substantive, the language he employs is hauntingly familiar. And for a Historian like Gingrich to be using such language, it is downright disturbing.
Now, even if I were inclined to take Newt's use of such language under the Good Faith Assumption that it is meant in most humane and constructive manner possible, which I do not, I would still find it discomforting that he chooses to focus so strongly on clearly divisive issues.
Many many years ago, a young Political Apparatchik in Italy, named Niccolo Machiavelli, wrote a Book that would later become famous as a work of Political Theory: The Prince. To distill down much of what the Book suggests, Machiavelli engages in a rather diabolical treatise about the reasons that Sovereigns (Political Leaders or Rulers) should consider themselves to be "Above the Law" if they are to be effective.
This is clearly the Mindset employed by Newt. If he does not come outright and say this, which he more or less actually does, he implies it in almost every area of his Public Presence.
His actions clearly demonstrate that he is not always interested in how the Letter of the Law reads. Newt has been the subject of Ethics Investigations in the past.
So, for some of us [myself obviously included], the real question we should asking ourselves is: Why is Newton Gingrich actually running for President? Gingrich was forced in the 1990's to admit that he had violated House Ethics Rules. [Go to the Washington Post Story link above for references] Should such violations not exclude him from contention faster than the much touted [and patently false] questionable citizenship of Barack Obama? Are Gingrich and his Supporters employing an Ethical Double-Standard here?
Take note that I have personally avoided the charges of Gingrich cheating on Wives here. Quite honestly, while such information would make for much popular and exploitative mockery of Reality on low-brow Television Shows like Maury Povich or Jerry Springer, it really has little bearing on Newt's ability to perform as President. As much as I dislike the Man, those are Private Issues that should have remained between him, and the Women that he plagued with his presence. If these charges are mentioned in any of the Links above, I can assure you the Reader that the Links were not chosen to highlight those charges.
It is my sincere hope that in making this Post today, that I might at least give those of you considering voting for Newt something new to think about. For those of you who already loathed him, I hope I have given you new information to present to the Morons considering voting for him. Though I personally put little, if any, faith in the Political System of the United States of America, I can honestly say that I believe that electing Newt Gingrich as President could only serve to make the World a far worse place than it already is. He is that horrible.
For those stubborn individuals who believe that I am being unfair to Newt, I invite you to PLEASE do some research on him and his History at your Public Libraries [before he de-funds all of them], and on the Internet. Do not rely solely on your Fox News Resources. [If you like him you MUST be a Fox News watcher - so then why are you reading my Blog?] Find as many different types of sources for information on him as your limited mental capacities can muster. And yes, I am being as insulting and condescending as I possibly can - because you deserve it. If you still like him at that point, PLEASE report to the closest Psychiatric Hospital and demand that they place you on a 24 hour evaluative hold. You are clearly a danger to self and others.
Peace and Compassion to you.
Jeffrey
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Small Break on Sunday
Today is a pretty much over. I was both exhausted and in need of rest and not energetic. So, I decided to take a break today. I will write another clever and insightful piece on Monday. Please do not go on any Sexual Sprees before that. Enjoy. Peace and Compassion to you.
Jeffrey
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