All the tragedy in American society: the erosion of the middle class, environmental degradation, gun violence, bigotry, educational collapse, authoritarianism, etc., makes one wonder if there are any areas of improvement over the last few decades.
As suggested in the meme here, the answer appears to be no.
I met a woman just now who believes that nature always repairs itself. An example she offered was that our local lake (see left), after several years of severe drought, is now full due to the atmospheric river storms that brought record rainfall to the region. “I’m dry,” she said in a sad voice, imitating what the lake told Nature. “Don’t worry,” Nature replied cheerfully. “I’ll send you some rain.”
Not wanting to argue, I kept my thoughts to myself, which are as follows:
The biosphere most certainly does have qualities of resilience. If we stop dumping poison into a river, fish will eventually return. But there is no intelligent and beneficent spiritual entity that goes about repairing the damage that ignorant and greedy human beings have been inflicting on the Earth.
Further, the myth that such a being exists tends to offer justification for humankind’s criminally stupid behavior.
These people certainly made the prosecution’s job easy.
Nailing Trump and the other top architects of the attempt to overthrow the U.S. government isn’t going to be quite as easy, because they’re not stupid enough to commit treason and then brag about it on Facebook.
That said, once these people start testifying under oath, the evidence will be overwhelming, if it isn’t already.
The author of the meme here certainly makes a good point, but I’m not too sure about the “beyond comprehension” part.
If the years since Trump took office have taught us anything, it’s that about one-third of American voters are as hateful as they are gullible. They were taken in by a criminal conman who has them believing that he needs donations to deal with the onslaught of legal bills that he generates defending himself against the “woke, radical left,” which will enable him to get back to the mission of making America great again.
Pathetic? Absolutely. Beyond comprehension? Sadly, no.
In “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu wrote: “An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.”
It certainly does appear that this is what we’re experiencing in the United States at this point–not that we’re alone in this movement in the direction of authoritarianism.
It’s almost as if the MAGA Republicans want to cultivate as much ruination as possible, so as to blame it on Biden.
In any case, these people don’t give a damn about you.
Democrats?
There are people all around the globe who are desperate to see Trump indicted, because of what it will mean if his crimes go unpunished, i.e., that the United States is no longer a functioning democracy based on rule of law.
No surprise: this hat is “free,” but only if the customer is willing to pay ridiculous shipping and handling fees. And for every 100 people who make a purchase, there will be at least another 30 or 40 who buy additional products that enable them to display their hate and stupidity to their friends and neighbors.
This whole subject makes me think about one of the most repulsive facets of American society: its constant vigilance on finding new ways to fleece idiots.
Are the people who make these hats, flags, and signs actually Trump supporters? Maybe. But more probably they’re opportunists who have tripped across the latest way to extract cash from fools.
Fox News does this with incredible precision, but seriously, that level of sophistication isn’t necessary when you’re targeting the very dregs.
Here’s Athena Brattin. She’s a candidate for the school board in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.
What the local voters are bound to like: she’s a white woman with cute, girlish dimples, and she’s toting a weapon of war. She says she cares about your kids, but she rejects the data/science concerning gun control and the safety of the nation’s children.
What’s not to like, considering she’s running in rural Missouri, a region that’s home to some of the most poorly educated people in the nation? Nothing whatsoever. She’s a shoe-in.
Even if Trump goes to prison on charges of treason or seditious conspiracy for his attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, these folks will remain his staunch supporters until long after his death.
If you want to be a part of all this, just remember that it’s not a pot-luck dinner where your homemade potato salad or lasagna will be a hit. Just bring guns. Big ones. You can’t lose.
The answer to the question raised in the meme here is clear.
No, we can’t. And that’s the problem.
About one-third of voters believe that Trump was among the best, if not the very best, president in U.S. history. Further, they hold that he was an honest and effective servant of the American people, that he was (and continues to be) the only thing standing between the U.S. and socialism, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in favor of Biden, and that all the criminal investigations and the upcoming indictments against him are politically motivated by the “radical left.”
On my way home from an errand a few minutes ago, I drove past a Harley-Davidson motorcyclist with “Let’s Go Brandon” stenciled on his helmet. He’s joined by 50-60 million other folks who consider themselves patriots who would like to see Trump re-instated and possibly installed as “president for life.”
I’m old enough to remember when controversial issues were those when honest and intelligent people could disagree. Should states’ rights take precedence over a strong federal government? Does the death penalty have a place in a civilized society?
If you want a measurement as to how far we’ve fallen, there is no need to look any further.
