The DARVO method: Examining the traditional, foundational American spirit of supremacy, in an age of rising fascism, through the lens of abusive narcissists' DARVO bully tactics.
As I read this essay it occurred to me that a couple of phrases I see on the Twitter and some other social media, although I don't use TikTok, Instagram or really any of the others, are "every accusation is a confession" and "every accusation is projection".
Fascist tactics in particular seem to be to accuse your target/enemy of that which you are guilty or have the intention of performing. Even before Trump and MAGA some "proto-fascists" were publicly expressing thier intentions but once he was elected POTUS it seemed the floodgates started to open and after he ckaimed the 2020 election was stolen they didn't just open so much as collapse. Now conservatives of all stripes seldom hesitate to say the quiet part out loud and often double down if called out about it.
So DARVO is the order of the day it seems and instead of making more people stand up and speak out the bully tactics make university presidents resign after being openly bullied at the highest levels of gov't. I don't have any answers any more than anyone else but I feel and fear of Trump and his cohorts are allowed to regain the WH all of us, both bullies and victims, will regret not trying harder to make sure I it doesn't happen.
I am not supporting ELMU I don't pay for a blue check and I block all ads plus frankly it's none of your business in any case. You stated your opinion. I'm done now so just stop yourself.
I don't know you and I don't care what your personal opinions are. They are of no consequence to me. I replied to a post by A.R. Moxon and you have chosen to harass me bc of reasons beyond me. I am on Blue sky. I am not on Mastadon by choice. Stop or not bc frankly I find you tedious and your focus on my choices obsessive. I will not reply going forward so yell into space if tgat is your desire. Bye.
Just want to note: the part just after "aint that some shit?", you have "...as part of a larger subset of trying to destabilize, defend, and discredit..." I think you mean "defund", not "defend".
Most appreciative of time you took to build your argument and keep the slide show of your illustrations going which amounted to a perp walk through a hall of shame that could only exist in these United States of Amnesia or Alzheimers....
Personally, I needed some brushing up on DARVO slacktivist methodology and its repertoire of grifter's tactics so well illustrated by the continuing growth of former President (still sticks in my craw, despite the host of grifters who've held and hold office as I type) Trump's Cult of Personality. So easy to get lost in the acronym alphabet soup. Also, doubtful I am impervious to the forms of dementia, amnesia and Alzheimers that Gore Vidal was referring to when he coined that term for the US of A.
Keep on doing and taking the time and boundless energy and patience to try working through not only the snake oil salespersons' spiel but penetrating the never-ending deluge that feeds our Pay2Play cronyocracy, auctioned off mass communications systems and technologies while it all also poisons the civics long since banished to the taboo school curriculum being rolled out by Florida Gov. DeSantis across the many DeSantistans sprouting where the next Dust Bowl is sure to swirl out from that makes sure our off-spring keep their distance from Context in Pay2Play News Reporting & Critical Thinking or any other form of analysis up to and including any post mortems on metaphorical or actual quick to rot and stink flesh.....
Keep on healing US with deliberate rational exercises, playful challenges and thoughtful exchange through meaningful discourse. Won't make this life on a food chain any easier to survive nor will tragedy nor the tragic remains vaporize, but it tends to sand down the paradoxes of the condition of our human condition and cuts down on the gaslighting tactic not mentioned in DARVO's repertoire and that has been historically shown to lead to actual gassing of fellow humans.
Reading the beginning of this essay, I was struck by the parallels between (1) our current resident supremacists who compare themselves to Rosa Parks and other civil rights leaders and (2) our historical supremacists--the Confederates/sympathizers and their present day apologists--who captured and changed the popular narrative about the Civil War, despite their military defeat.
One thing that keeps coming to mind for me as we watch this recent and convenient pivot by the right wing from clear, persistent antisemitism to *pretending* they are now Zionists who have always loved Jews and Israel... is that Supremacy is still at play here too.
It's simply that their system of Supremacy, which of course puts White Christians at the top, doesn't necessarily put ALL the "others" at the same level of being devalued. It seems pretty clear that although they did not care for Jews at all, that their deep disdain for Muslims and Arabs is that much stronger.
So, of course you pretend you're suddenly an ally to Jews, as they actively eradicate the Palestinians through an abuse of excessive military force. And if they can manage to keep Jews and Palestinians riled up, so this conflict remains a drawn out tragedy that kills even more Jews and Muslims, and results in some domestic hate crimes against these people at the same time, then they will feel doubly pleased.
They honestly wish neither one of these groups existed, it's just more politically expedient to side with Jews, because they hate them a tiny bit less, AND of course because they are currently engaged in the kind of rationalized genocide right wingers respect and envy.
Well yeah, there's that too. But "what evangelicals believe" is kind of a dime a dozen and changes whichever way they want the wind to blow on any given day. When I first moved to the the South I met people driving Hummers telling me they had to do their part to use all the oil up, to bring on the end days.
I've read the bible cover to cover at least three times, but I don't remember the part about Jesus needing us to use up all the oil. Maybe they thought the references to oil in the bible meant crude oil, and not lamp oil? I dunno.
I notice they stopped wanting to stone adulterers and throw rich men out of the temple as soon as both those things seem to apply to their evangelical preachers. *shrug*
*Disclaimer: I am devoutly religion-free, so that statement is full of righteous surmise. I think I heard about it somewhere, but who knows how reliable the source was.
“...supremacy is like the water we swim in; accusing someone of acting from supremacy is sort of like standing in a crowd in the rain and accusing your neighbor of being wet. I can implicate you, but I should recognize that I’m drenched. The thing to do is to try to get an umbrella over both of us.”
Well stated, and it brings to mind the idea of white privilege, and the defensive misunderstanding of some, who will bristle: “I’m not privileged; I earned it all by my own work.” But privilege is simply the ability or freedom to ignore supremacy.
But I would quickly put democrats in the same boat.
Especially Chuck Shumer, claiming being anti Zionist is antisemitic. It's not, and it's a tool to fight protesters who are anti genocide & pro Palestine(who are semites).
So while the Republicans are an obvious and easy target, we must not forget we have a bunch of the exact same shit coming from the blue side.
Elon Musk, for one. Here's a man who in the name of "free speech" has literally monetized all types of bigotry on Xitter, including antisemitism, as well as approving and repeating antisemitic dogwhistles, yet when he went to Israel he was warmly welcomed by Netanyahu and publicly wears the IDF dog tags he was given.
I'd say there's plenty of Zionists who are very emphatically anti-semites. They're the people whose support of Israel is entirely based on it being on their big Armageddon Check-list. Israel needs to exist, and all the Jews need to be in Israel, so that when Jesus comes back, he can send them all to Hell.
But don't you think it's nice that they're willing to allow the Jews to exist until it's necessary for them to all perish in a lake of fire? Sure, "All Jews perish in a lake of fire" sounds kind of genocidey to me, but. you know, might be a while before it actually happens, so we should put fundamentalist Christians in the *currently* anti-genocide or *temporarily* anti-genocide category.
Russ, "All anti-semites are anti-Zionist" does NOT imply "All anti-Zionists are anti-semites." I suppose I could draw you a Venn diagram, if you want me to.
One caveat. Those schools are in fact required by federal law to essentially follow the 1A. That means that calls for genocide cannot be punished by the universities unless they can be construed as threats or can be shown to have inspired actual violence. This "environment" has little to do with Republicans, though they have of course capitalized on it.
True, and colleges and universities have been struggling with this question - how to balance first-amendment rights with the need to create a safe learning environment - since at least the 1960's. But the impression we get through the Republicans isn't "Decent people attempting to handle difficult issues in a way that does actually work" what we get is "Monsters who want to see your children genocided."
"If I were Jewish, I might be inclined to seek allies wherever I might find them." This sentiment is exactly what the right assumes and relies on. And many Jews do follow that inclination. Many of us, however, are very aware of the difference between someone truly concerned about the hatred directed at us for being Jewish, and those who are appropriating the reality of rampant antisemitism as a justification for perpetuating other violently oppressive agendas. They are using the history of western/Christian persecution of Jews - and thereby, using us Jews - as cannon fodder for their own battles to further their supremacist agendas, and many of us (I wish I could say most of us, but I really don't know how the numbers break down) are not only aware of this tactic, but completely jaded by the never-ending frequency with which we are expected to actually fall for it. I don't even argue with them anymore. I just roll my eyes and move on.
Nice work, thanks. I especially liked this definition: "Slurs are how abusive entrenched power names those it intends to abuse, to help make the case for abusing them." It's all about constructing a reality that benefits the one constructing, and who has the power to construct it. As the meme goes: privilege is when equality feels like oppression.
Well, that's the point of the lies and bullshit and gaslighting, isn't it? To confuse to the point where we're questioning everything, even ourselves, so the "Truth" can go to those with the power and the violence and, as I keep saying, who can shout the loudest. Reality is now nothing more than "that's your OPINION"; college is ridiculed because "common sense" defeats eduction and the person on Facebook/YouTube/Xitter defeats those with training, competence, degrees, and experience; and the past is purposely hidden to keep from being a reference point.
This thing with the College Presidents is such an opportunity for good old American anti-intellectualism to flourish. Even for nice liberals and Democrats who don't want to side with the Republicans, the problem with the President's responses is that they weren't simple enough, tried to take into account what the laws and procedures actually say and allow rather than just going with what FEELS right. On MSNBC, Kurt Bardella, "Democratic Strategist" said that their responses show the Presidents are "Living in an academic bubble divorced from the reality of their students." Thanks a lot, pal, glad to have you on our team.
Interesting, isn't it, that there's also been a spike in anti-Muslim hate, pretty much the same as we saw after 9/11, yet the folks like the House Republicans who are suddenly Very Concerned about freeze peach and its limitations remain very quiet on that front. Wonder what the difference might be...
Watching the response to that Congressional hearing, I thought, "They're really good at this, aren't they?" Republicans, I mean. And what they're good at is taking a place, or an institution, and through a relentless smear campaign, turning it into an object of fear and suspicion. Doesn't matter whether it's Harvard University or the entire state of California, it's a "sick" place (DeSantis' response to the hearing was to claim it proves a "sickness" at the heart of all higher education.) And most of all, SCARY, a place or thing that no decent person should want a part of.
One consolation is that this technique doesn't actually work so well with normal people. Offer any normal person a two-week vacation in San Francisco, and they'll jump at the chance. Offer them a place at Harvard for their kids, and they'll grab it with both hands. But on ignorant, fearful people (i.e. the base of the Republican party) it all works wonderfully. Right now, there are tens of millions of Americans walking around imagining that the campuses of our Ivy League universities are places of chaos, where all Jewish students live in fear of the rampaging mobs of Hamas-supporting protesters. And it's just as powerful for them - and just as accurate - as their imagined view of downtown Seattle.
"Sick" is useful because it evokes concern and compassion - the sick should be cured, right? Or at least isolated so as not to spread the contagion. A crisis, to be addressed STAT. (Parallels with conservativism over the last three years should be ignored, because that was all about getting us to take THE DEATH JAB, designed to, simultaneously, kill millions AND turn us all into mindless nanotech 5G slaves.)
Imagine the value saved in all the whizbang nanotech gizmos that did not get injected in alla those deniers who shuffled prematurely offa this mortal coil. Such sacrifice! They should have monuments erected upon every corner! At which we could all fervently exclaim "Damn! That's Some Erection!"
Right, and the idea of society as an organism that can either be healthy or sick, and if sick, in need of "cure" which always involves some sort of "purification", perhaps "in a cleansing fire", this is all standard fascism. Just look at Trump's claims that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country." Immigrants are a virus, and what do we do with viruses? (unless it's Covid, of course, then we're supposed to pretend it's "just a cold" and take no precautions whatsoever.)
You know, "traitor" used to be a serious charge, carrying a possible penalty of death, but what the hell, just toss in a "traitor" or two when talking about your opponent, just to spice things up. Don't you want to Talk Like Newt?
Consolation Number Two: They're really bad at creating a positive impression of the people and policies they support. Just awful at that job, really. Smears is all they're good at.
I'll not list here the colleges I turned down because I was not ready at the time. Probly 300-400% lower personal wealth result of that move. But regrets...not really.
Other priorities, as Liz Cheney's old man useta say...
Just checked his substack - free and worth every penny. Most of it is the same exact plug for his book about "optimism", over and over. I particularly like the one titled "Democratic Socialism", which is nothing but the book plug. Wheee! Such deep thought, so well articulated!
As I read this essay it occurred to me that a couple of phrases I see on the Twitter and some other social media, although I don't use TikTok, Instagram or really any of the others, are "every accusation is a confession" and "every accusation is projection".
Fascist tactics in particular seem to be to accuse your target/enemy of that which you are guilty or have the intention of performing. Even before Trump and MAGA some "proto-fascists" were publicly expressing thier intentions but once he was elected POTUS it seemed the floodgates started to open and after he ckaimed the 2020 election was stolen they didn't just open so much as collapse. Now conservatives of all stripes seldom hesitate to say the quiet part out loud and often double down if called out about it.
So DARVO is the order of the day it seems and instead of making more people stand up and speak out the bully tactics make university presidents resign after being openly bullied at the highest levels of gov't. I don't have any answers any more than anyone else but I feel and fear of Trump and his cohorts are allowed to regain the WH all of us, both bullies and victims, will regret not trying harder to make sure I it doesn't happen.
If you’re still on Twitter, you’re part of the problem. Yes?
No.
I am not supporting ELMU I don't pay for a blue check and I block all ads plus frankly it's none of your business in any case. You stated your opinion. I'm done now so just stop yourself.
I don't know you and I don't care what your personal opinions are. They are of no consequence to me. I replied to a post by A.R. Moxon and you have chosen to harass me bc of reasons beyond me. I am on Blue sky. I am not on Mastadon by choice. Stop or not bc frankly I find you tedious and your focus on my choices obsessive. I will not reply going forward so yell into space if tgat is your desire. Bye.
Just want to note: the part just after "aint that some shit?", you have "...as part of a larger subset of trying to destabilize, defend, and discredit..." I think you mean "defund", not "defend".
Most appreciative of time you took to build your argument and keep the slide show of your illustrations going which amounted to a perp walk through a hall of shame that could only exist in these United States of Amnesia or Alzheimers....
Personally, I needed some brushing up on DARVO slacktivist methodology and its repertoire of grifter's tactics so well illustrated by the continuing growth of former President (still sticks in my craw, despite the host of grifters who've held and hold office as I type) Trump's Cult of Personality. So easy to get lost in the acronym alphabet soup. Also, doubtful I am impervious to the forms of dementia, amnesia and Alzheimers that Gore Vidal was referring to when he coined that term for the US of A.
Keep on doing and taking the time and boundless energy and patience to try working through not only the snake oil salespersons' spiel but penetrating the never-ending deluge that feeds our Pay2Play cronyocracy, auctioned off mass communications systems and technologies while it all also poisons the civics long since banished to the taboo school curriculum being rolled out by Florida Gov. DeSantis across the many DeSantistans sprouting where the next Dust Bowl is sure to swirl out from that makes sure our off-spring keep their distance from Context in Pay2Play News Reporting & Critical Thinking or any other form of analysis up to and including any post mortems on metaphorical or actual quick to rot and stink flesh.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lUB4un8Zzw
Politics - The Great McGinty
The neithernors
Keep on healing US with deliberate rational exercises, playful challenges and thoughtful exchange through meaningful discourse. Won't make this life on a food chain any easier to survive nor will tragedy nor the tragic remains vaporize, but it tends to sand down the paradoxes of the condition of our human condition and cuts down on the gaslighting tactic not mentioned in DARVO's repertoire and that has been historically shown to lead to actual gassing of fellow humans.
Health and balance.
Carry on....
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of Atonement Seekers)
Media Discussion List\LookseeInnerEarsHearHere
Reading the beginning of this essay, I was struck by the parallels between (1) our current resident supremacists who compare themselves to Rosa Parks and other civil rights leaders and (2) our historical supremacists--the Confederates/sympathizers and their present day apologists--who captured and changed the popular narrative about the Civil War, despite their military defeat.
One thing that keeps coming to mind for me as we watch this recent and convenient pivot by the right wing from clear, persistent antisemitism to *pretending* they are now Zionists who have always loved Jews and Israel... is that Supremacy is still at play here too.
It's simply that their system of Supremacy, which of course puts White Christians at the top, doesn't necessarily put ALL the "others" at the same level of being devalued. It seems pretty clear that although they did not care for Jews at all, that their deep disdain for Muslims and Arabs is that much stronger.
So, of course you pretend you're suddenly an ally to Jews, as they actively eradicate the Palestinians through an abuse of excessive military force. And if they can manage to keep Jews and Palestinians riled up, so this conflict remains a drawn out tragedy that kills even more Jews and Muslims, and results in some domestic hate crimes against these people at the same time, then they will feel doubly pleased.
They honestly wish neither one of these groups existed, it's just more politically expedient to side with Jews, because they hate them a tiny bit less, AND of course because they are currently engaged in the kind of rationalized genocide right wingers respect and envy.
Don't forget that for the Evangelicals, they need Jerusalem to be in friendly hands for when Jesus comes back.
Well yeah, there's that too. But "what evangelicals believe" is kind of a dime a dozen and changes whichever way they want the wind to blow on any given day. When I first moved to the the South I met people driving Hummers telling me they had to do their part to use all the oil up, to bring on the end days.
I've read the bible cover to cover at least three times, but I don't remember the part about Jesus needing us to use up all the oil. Maybe they thought the references to oil in the bible meant crude oil, and not lamp oil? I dunno.
I notice they stopped wanting to stone adulterers and throw rich men out of the temple as soon as both those things seem to apply to their evangelical preachers. *shrug*
Plus, Son O' God was Jewish.* So there's that.
*Disclaimer: I am devoutly religion-free, so that statement is full of righteous surmise. I think I heard about it somewhere, but who knows how reliable the source was.
They do respect "strength", defined as a willingness to murder large numbers of people.
“...supremacy is like the water we swim in; accusing someone of acting from supremacy is sort of like standing in a crowd in the rain and accusing your neighbor of being wet. I can implicate you, but I should recognize that I’m drenched. The thing to do is to try to get an umbrella over both of us.”
Well stated, and it brings to mind the idea of white privilege, and the defensive misunderstanding of some, who will bristle: “I’m not privileged; I earned it all by my own work.” But privilege is simply the ability or freedom to ignore supremacy.
I agree 💯
But I would quickly put democrats in the same boat.
Especially Chuck Shumer, claiming being anti Zionist is antisemitic. It's not, and it's a tool to fight protesters who are anti genocide & pro Palestine(who are semites).
So while the Republicans are an obvious and easy target, we must not forget we have a bunch of the exact same shit coming from the blue side.
Not all, but most anti-Zionism is anti-semitism. That’s definitional. It’s simple: are there anti-semites who are not anti-Zionist?
Elon Musk, for one. Here's a man who in the name of "free speech" has literally monetized all types of bigotry on Xitter, including antisemitism, as well as approving and repeating antisemitic dogwhistles, yet when he went to Israel he was warmly welcomed by Netanyahu and publicly wears the IDF dog tags he was given.
I'd say there's plenty of Zionists who are very emphatically anti-semites. They're the people whose support of Israel is entirely based on it being on their big Armageddon Check-list. Israel needs to exist, and all the Jews need to be in Israel, so that when Jesus comes back, he can send them all to Hell.
If that isn't anti-semitic, I don't know what is.
But don't you think it's nice that they're willing to allow the Jews to exist until it's necessary for them to all perish in a lake of fire? Sure, "All Jews perish in a lake of fire" sounds kind of genocidey to me, but. you know, might be a while before it actually happens, so we should put fundamentalist Christians in the *currently* anti-genocide or *temporarily* anti-genocide category.
Oh, sure.
As long as we also ignore the "actively working to accelerate the 'Jesus returning and casting all Jews into a lake of fire'" bit.
So really, they're "temporarily anti-genocide, and working to bring that to an end."
Russ, "All anti-semites are anti-Zionist" does NOT imply "All anti-Zionists are anti-semites." I suppose I could draw you a Venn diagram, if you want me to.
One caveat. Those schools are in fact required by federal law to essentially follow the 1A. That means that calls for genocide cannot be punished by the universities unless they can be construed as threats or can be shown to have inspired actual violence. This "environment" has little to do with Republicans, though they have of course capitalized on it.
True, and colleges and universities have been struggling with this question - how to balance first-amendment rights with the need to create a safe learning environment - since at least the 1960's. But the impression we get through the Republicans isn't "Decent people attempting to handle difficult issues in a way that does actually work" what we get is "Monsters who want to see your children genocided."
"If I were Jewish, I might be inclined to seek allies wherever I might find them." This sentiment is exactly what the right assumes and relies on. And many Jews do follow that inclination. Many of us, however, are very aware of the difference between someone truly concerned about the hatred directed at us for being Jewish, and those who are appropriating the reality of rampant antisemitism as a justification for perpetuating other violently oppressive agendas. They are using the history of western/Christian persecution of Jews - and thereby, using us Jews - as cannon fodder for their own battles to further their supremacist agendas, and many of us (I wish I could say most of us, but I really don't know how the numbers break down) are not only aware of this tactic, but completely jaded by the never-ending frequency with which we are expected to actually fall for it. I don't even argue with them anymore. I just roll my eyes and move on.
Nice work, thanks. I especially liked this definition: "Slurs are how abusive entrenched power names those it intends to abuse, to help make the case for abusing them." It's all about constructing a reality that benefits the one constructing, and who has the power to construct it. As the meme goes: privilege is when equality feels like oppression.
Well, that's the point of the lies and bullshit and gaslighting, isn't it? To confuse to the point where we're questioning everything, even ourselves, so the "Truth" can go to those with the power and the violence and, as I keep saying, who can shout the loudest. Reality is now nothing more than "that's your OPINION"; college is ridiculed because "common sense" defeats eduction and the person on Facebook/YouTube/Xitter defeats those with training, competence, degrees, and experience; and the past is purposely hidden to keep from being a reference point.
Yeah. All that life stuff I experienced myself? That's GOLD. All that life stuff everyone ELSE experienced? Suspect, at best.
This thing with the College Presidents is such an opportunity for good old American anti-intellectualism to flourish. Even for nice liberals and Democrats who don't want to side with the Republicans, the problem with the President's responses is that they weren't simple enough, tried to take into account what the laws and procedures actually say and allow rather than just going with what FEELS right. On MSNBC, Kurt Bardella, "Democratic Strategist" said that their responses show the Presidents are "Living in an academic bubble divorced from the reality of their students." Thanks a lot, pal, glad to have you on our team.
Interesting, isn't it, that there's also been a spike in anti-Muslim hate, pretty much the same as we saw after 9/11, yet the folks like the House Republicans who are suddenly Very Concerned about freeze peach and its limitations remain very quiet on that front. Wonder what the difference might be...
AFAIK, since 10/7 the only people to be shot because of their ethnic/religious identity are Palestinian/American.
For an alternate view point, let's check in with our friends at Liberty U!
Let's not and say we did, nobody will know.
And there's PragerU, for all the people who couldn't get into Liberty U. It's the wingnut safety school.
Watching the response to that Congressional hearing, I thought, "They're really good at this, aren't they?" Republicans, I mean. And what they're good at is taking a place, or an institution, and through a relentless smear campaign, turning it into an object of fear and suspicion. Doesn't matter whether it's Harvard University or the entire state of California, it's a "sick" place (DeSantis' response to the hearing was to claim it proves a "sickness" at the heart of all higher education.) And most of all, SCARY, a place or thing that no decent person should want a part of.
One consolation is that this technique doesn't actually work so well with normal people. Offer any normal person a two-week vacation in San Francisco, and they'll jump at the chance. Offer them a place at Harvard for their kids, and they'll grab it with both hands. But on ignorant, fearful people (i.e. the base of the Republican party) it all works wonderfully. Right now, there are tens of millions of Americans walking around imagining that the campuses of our Ivy League universities are places of chaos, where all Jewish students live in fear of the rampaging mobs of Hamas-supporting protesters. And it's just as powerful for them - and just as accurate - as their imagined view of downtown Seattle.
"Sick" is useful because it evokes concern and compassion - the sick should be cured, right? Or at least isolated so as not to spread the contagion. A crisis, to be addressed STAT. (Parallels with conservativism over the last three years should be ignored, because that was all about getting us to take THE DEATH JAB, designed to, simultaneously, kill millions AND turn us all into mindless nanotech 5G slaves.)
Imagine the value saved in all the whizbang nanotech gizmos that did not get injected in alla those deniers who shuffled prematurely offa this mortal coil. Such sacrifice! They should have monuments erected upon every corner! At which we could all fervently exclaim "Damn! That's Some Erection!"
Their families should all get a medal for "Service rendered in support of protecting the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund."
Right, and the idea of society as an organism that can either be healthy or sick, and if sick, in need of "cure" which always involves some sort of "purification", perhaps "in a cleansing fire", this is all standard fascism. Just look at Trump's claims that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country." Immigrants are a virus, and what do we do with viruses? (unless it's Covid, of course, then we're supposed to pretend it's "just a cold" and take no precautions whatsoever.)
Yes, I actually think about that a lot, it's the beginning of many, many horrible trends. Do you have a link to it?
You know, "traitor" used to be a serious charge, carrying a possible penalty of death, but what the hell, just toss in a "traitor" or two when talking about your opponent, just to spice things up. Don't you want to Talk Like Newt?
...we hear a plaintive plea: "I wish I could speak like Newt." That takes years of practice.
Jesus.
Consolation Number Two: They're really bad at creating a positive impression of the people and policies they support. Just awful at that job, really. Smears is all they're good at.
Well, sure, this stuff is all for the rubes.
Just think how proud they can be that they never sent their kids to Harvard. Really smart move on their part.
I'll not list here the colleges I turned down because I was not ready at the time. Probly 300-400% lower personal wealth result of that move. But regrets...not really.
Other priorities, as Liz Cheney's old man useta say...
Just think of the horrifying possibility: Rooming with Mark Zuckerberg.
Yoicks! Why anyone ever thought it would be a good idea to invite student on the planet to 'rate' their classmates is something I'll never grok.
But I'm not a joiner.
Since we're using the comments section for advertising, have you considered signing up for a paid subscription? https://armoxon.substack.com/about
"I am a wealthy man."
All day long do you biddy-biddy bum? Because that sorta seems like what you're doing here.
John, are you available for children’s parties?
Just checked his substack - free and worth every penny. Most of it is the same exact plug for his book about "optimism", over and over. I particularly like the one titled "Democratic Socialism", which is nothing but the book plug. Wheee! Such deep thought, so well articulated!
Not getting much optimism from his vibe here, but maybe he's just havin' a bad day?
Ok fun chat.
Stunning. That John guy describes himself as an optimistic philanthropist Buddhist. Not seeing that in his comments.