In response to what Neil deGrasse Tyson says here, all I can say is, “I hope so, but I don’t see too much evidence that this is where we’re going.”
How much science and other forms of clear-headedness are we applying to ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and elsewhere around the world? To climate change mitigation? To preventing the death of U.S. democracy? To optimizing our approach at the southern border?
My father was a B-17 bomber pilot in the European theater of WW2, who, by 1944, had flown with his 10-man crew, 29 successful missions destroying Nazi crude oil refineries. They were shot down on November 25 of that year, on the return trip from what would have been their 30th. Still over Germany, about 10 miles short of the French border and having lost three of their four engines, they had run out of luck.
Dad and his men had no option but to bail out, parachute to the ground, and hope for the best. They did, however, have a decision to make, and an important one at that. They had the choice to remain in uniform, making them a cinch to identify (and capture) as allied troops. Alternatively, they could change into civilian clothes, making it far easier for them to make their way on foot into neighboring France without being noticed by the enemy.
There was a considerable risk, however. Choosing to remain in uniform prohibited the Germans, under international law, from gunning them down on sight; if captured, they would be made POWs, treated humanely, and released unharmed at the end of the war. On the other hand, changing clothes enabled the Germans to treat them as spies and execute them by firing squad.
This tale is only partially a tribute to my father. It’s more an illustration of how common Americans who become soldiers in wartime face momentous decisions that former presidents do not. If you’re lucky enough to be Donald Trump, it appears that you can conduct yourself with immunity, and thus spying, in his case, leaking top secret military documents, doesn’t even lead to criminal prosecution, let alone an array of bullets through your heart.
It’s kind of funny that these people consider themselves “conservatives,” while there is essentially zero that they wish to conserve.
Most obviously, they want an immediate end to the rule of law in the United States; they want a democracy which no one is above the law–except the U.S. president.
People have been talking about this subject ever since theoretical physics became a thing around the turn of the 20th Century, and, simultaneously, we had the onset of the “philosophy of science.”
IMO, there are no distinct answers here, other than the basic: if a statement can’t be subjected to an experiment that could potentially disprove it, it can’t be considered scientific.
Apparently, it’s news when working class America support a Democrat for U.S. president, even when the Republican candidate’s track record while in office featured lavish tax breaks ….. for corporations and billionaires.
The decline of quality in public schooling and the deep-seated frustration of the common American seem to have combined to draw these voters toward Trump, who is a true expert at fanning the flames of anger among the poorly educated.
It’s possible that Biden has, at least in part, turned this around. All the disinformation in the world can’t change the fact that the current president has been very good for the welfare of “the little guy.” It’s nice to see that this is being recognized.
We all know that Elon Musk is no fan of wokeism. But does what he says here make any sense?
Most people would agree that there is nothing funny about being considerate of other people’s feelings, or working to build a fair and just society.
If I wrote that no one laughs at oranges because they’re not tomatoes, would readers find that meaningful, or would they think that perhaps Craig has lost a step?
I’d like to shake the hand of the guy who went rogue with the road sign here. But, while his message is funny, it makes an important point.
Americans from the baby-boom and the earlier generations remember a time when our personal politics meant relatively little in the way we regarded one another.
As an example, 50 years ago, few parents were upset if one of their children proposed to marry someone from the other major political party. Yet that’s no longer the case. Today, more than half of Democrats interviewed said they would object if one of their kids wanted to marry a Republican (and vice versa).
What has changed fundamentally? In particular, how did the MAGA movement come to divide us so completely?
In my mind, it’s largely a function of the fact that what we now call “news” is no longer information; it’s content designed to capture our round-the-clock attention and make us loyal to one club or another. News is no longer a service; it’s an extremely lucrative business, and the only way to establish and maintain these megaprofits is to have two halves of America, each of which considers the other half “assholes.”
Every time I encounter an EV driver in a relaxed setting, suppose I spot someone walking to or from his vehicle in a parking lot, I ask, “Say, how do you like your car?” I have at least a few hundred of these one-question surveys under my belt at this point.
So far, I have three who were luke-warm, one of whom was an Avis renter who was having trouble learning the new instrument interface.
All the rest were glowing. The most common response: “It’s by far the best car I’ve ever owned.”
What to make of the meme here? To me, it’s like anything else in the world of disinformation: it’s either:
Completely fabricated by some entity with a vested interest. Hmmm. Is there an industry that stands to lose big if electric transportation gains market-share?
or
Cherry-picked. Turn on Fox “News” right now, and watch the few short minutes as required to see a person with an MD or a PhD degree tell you vaccines don’t work or that climate change is a hoax. These people do exist. They’re extremely rare, but if your job is to find one, you’ll succeed eventually. At the expense of your integrity, of course.
At left is just one more example of the absurd nature of the U.S. political scene as we move through the 2024 election season.
I have learned from my mother that Fox News is “reporting” that all U.S. politics is rigged in favor of the Democrats. That is, the indictment mentioned here has nothing to do with justice or fairness but is simply a partisan attack from the radical left that controls our government.
We have an insatiable appetite for pure BS.
Fortunately for the state of North Carolina, most of its residents share the political sensibilities of the more productive and civilized states. The author of the meme probably doesn’t know that California, if it were a country, would be the 5th largest economy on Earth. That’s something to be emulated and respected, not ridiculed.
Most of the population of North Carolina is within an easy drive to Raleigh or Charlotte, which are rife with great universities, top-tier financial service companies, and centers of technological development. And its Atlantic coast, with its Outer Banks, is a true wonder.
Now, if you want to find hillbillys, it’s not impossible. Just head west. You’ll notice quickly that the towns start to look like the one pictured at right. 
Poor education, little affluence, horrible healthcare, but plenty of political rancor and Fox News viewership.
