Thanks for the input Jan. My money says the NFL catered to the White audience/culture for decades. Now that the NFL is so predominantly Black (players), I suspect it caters to the Black audience/culture. The NFL can't please everyone.
As a trial lawyer who represented many wonderful Black people in civil rights cases, and in some criminal and personal injury cases, I got to see the rich Black culture close up (early on) in my late 20s. I suspect sexual prudishness (in general) turns some Whites off (and, perhaps, some Blacks too) when they watched the Black performers at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime. No doubt it's different than what I grew up on in my formative years. But, its a big world with so many disparate tastes. So we have to keep an open mind, and go out of our comfort zone (sometimes).
As my non-prudish, rebellious Irish Mother always told me... "Freddie me boy, you ain't everybody's cup of tea either, so live and let live." Disclaimer. I took my 8th grade educated, Irish Mother to the play Hair in 1969 in San Francisco. She loved it. She also loved the Krishna Hindus dancing on the streets of Haight Asbury during the Summer of love in 1967.
I never saw the half-time so I don't know what was showing. I wondered if it was intended to be over-the-top and thought provoking, cause discussion on the disparities. The story of your mom puts a smile on my face. My British grandma use to have sayings that would teach and stick in your mind too, that we still cherish. I am touched by your experiences representing others in civil rights cases. The world can be a rich tapestry, if we'd only be open to it.
Hey, Tucker Carlson, do you believe in Capitalism ??? Hey, you Whites who complain about being "replaced"... do you believe in Capitalism ??? Answer ??? Of course you do... especially when it's White guys (like us) who have grown up with all the advantages and all the opportunities... previously denied to people of color.
All those White ball players who use to be Major Leaguers before Jackie Robinson and Larry Dolby broke the color barrier... are now hopelessly stuck in the minor leagues, "replaced" by Blacks (who use to play in the Negro Leagues) and replaced by Major League ballplayers from Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Korea, Japan, Colombia (our own Detroit Tiger, Hall of Famer to be... Miguel Cabrera), etc.
Tucker Carlson, you and your whining, White followers don't want the level playing field of Capitalism and survival of the fittest. You and your followers want the old "leg up" ... the same leg up you have had for four centuries in America. You want an economic playing field that favors your White lineage in America... a White-lineage advantage that still exists in America 400 years and counting...
* 1619... Introduction of Black slaves in America to
* 1865... Black slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment to
* 1865... Blacks dominated by Jim Crow laws of "Separate but Equal" to
* 1950s... Brown vs Board of Education starts to dismantle Jim Crow and "Separate but Equal" to
* 1965 Civi Rights Laws to
* 2020 George Floyd.
A period of 400 years (over five centuries) when White men like Carlson and his weak kneed followers were supreme, and had all the opportunities... while the people of color sat in the back of the bus, or, perhaps, were lynched if they got too uppity or talked too loud on the bus, or, God forbid, someone thought they may have looked at a White woman.
"Replacement" is the way Capitalism has always worked. Ask the players in the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, the American League, the National league, PGA, General Motors UAW, Ford UAW, old Chrysler UAW, Teamsters, all the Union workers fighting against the duplicitous "Right to Work" laws, all the "small business" Mom and Pops of America. In Capitalism, we are all competing against our replacements... day in, day out. Month in, month out. Year in, year out. White Capitalists had no problem with the four Centuries when the shoe was on the other foot, and they had an artificial advantage form the mere color of their White skin.
Grow up Tucker Carlson. Grow up the rest of you who chant, "We wont be replaced by [fill in the blank]." Quit whining because you don't have heart of a competitor. Quit crying because you don't have the heart of a champion. Quit your B.S. chanting about replacement because you can't figure out how to monopolize Capitalism like you did in the good old days when America was great again.
I am glad you brought up the sports analogy. This year I had friend who was super-hyped up for the Super Bowl. After half-time, she turned off the TV and the rest of the game, she was so mentally thwarted and confused by the half-time show saying it was so black and the performances reflected the black culture and she was disgusted. I did not watch the Super Bowl (not a football-watcher). She was lamenting so, I asked her if she thought whites should do the show. Or, would it hard to get a group of whites to do the show? Would they want to? Or had it been delegated to the blacks? Either way, as performers, they creatively create their performance, as an art-form. I did see the Super Bowl commercials (You Tube) and found them to be thought provoking, in a good way, to provoke discussions of values, a good dinner table conversation. She did not want to discuss these and found them confusing. Period, no discussion. Several days after this, I couldn't help think of the NFL, sports, race-issues and fairness.
A concept that acts as an accelerant to the fears generated by replacement theory is what some refer to as "fixed pie" economics, the simplistic idea that resources are largely fixed such that population increases inevitably result in your slice of the "pie" getting smaller. This is further amplified by the unwarranted assumption that, overall, new arrivals will perpetually take more resources than they contribute. The pie will never grow as a result of this new blood. But who would have thought that a new arrival to these shores with but 38 cents in his pocket named Andrew Carnegie would single handedly make the pie so much larger that he found it. How conceited it is to think that new legal immigrants cannot possibly grow the pie even a modest bit. We have to remember that a rising tide lifts all boats, the new ones and the older ones too. At the very least new immigrant workers will finance the social security payments of all retirees including those who today are so fretted about adding to the already heterogenous American population.
Not a fan of Carnegie. His workers did not benefit from the profits. Also insider trading was legal then. Plus a dam broke and flooded a town and killed people and the club Carnegie was a member of and built the dam got away with it. Not sure how he made the pie bigger? The Industrial Revolution was happening and he certainly profitted but he didn't discover steel or invent anything. Growing the pie isn't the same as quality of life. The US GDP rises but the workers here are not seeing the benefits of it. Granted labor never has historically except for recent history for the few decades after WW2.
Replacement theory is a well known antisemitic trope, Frank. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are filled with them. This is a Fascist talking point. One that has been used throughout history. Make no mistake, we are living in a Fascist Petri dish. It won't take much for the 30% to take over this country. Look at the post below you, Frank. This is what it looks like, Fascism. The propagation of psychotic lies. The Jews have always been the worlds punching bag, in other words, they are a leading indicator............ I agree with your fixed pie theory. America has plenty for the need, but not the greed. The Fascist White Nationalist Supremists, are the greed.
It's a scarcity mindset. Evangelicals should realize the Gospel does not promote tho concept of scarcity, quite the opposite, grace. Scarcity's root word is 'scared'. What good honest person would promote scaring people?! Agree a rising tide lifts all boats.
Replacement Theory is a red herring. Millions of people streaming over the border undocumented is the issue that bothers most Americans but it is not about race. Importing millions of people who will need government assistance is clearly a strategy for the Dems to build a permanent majority. And, unlike American citizens, these illegal immigrants will not complain when the country descends in to feudal state.
I liked your tweet yesterday "a new age of fascist politics brings a war on youth -- but young people are ready to resist" --- as I work with TheCivicsCenter.org to phone-bank high schools to register seniors while they are still in school. We need their immediate engagement. Thank you for sharing your website, rich with depth.
My reading list just got much longer, Henry! While I was not paying attention, all of this move toward authoritarianism was happening under my nose. And people like you, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and Timothy Snyder have been writing about it.
I'm sure there must be people like me who care and would not want to see a complete fascist/authoritarian takeover in the US , but who are as yet unaware of how the puzzle pieces fit together. We have watched or listened to news daily but have not dug deep enough to make connections. Like me, many people have been busy with the daily patterns of life. For me, in the last 10 years it has been things like getting my last child, a student with dyslexia, through high school & college; nursing my mother through cancer until she passed & caring for my disabled father; spending 5 years on graduate study in Special Education/Educational Therapy; starting a business; and more. The amount of time I could allot for deep reading on any topic other than my own studies was limited. That changed for me in 2020. I now have an insatiable need to understand. I don't cope well when I don't understand what's behind the chaos.
Marie, what you have written is forthright and telling. It speaks of probably a large swath of Americans. So the question is: How do we refine our message? Can you share what your first 'aha' moment was to read deeper and that something sinister might be going on?
Thinking back myself, it was during the first impeachment hearings and conversations I had with my mom (a Trump supporter). Not liking Trump, but completely unaware of the depth of destruction going on, I bought a copy of the Mueller report --- and that changed everything and I started seeking more information.
Knowing how we come to that point of 'aha' might help us strategize how to reach more well-meaning, super-busy fellow citizens who are just drawing enough breath to get through each day.
Understanding this is deep. And yet brevity matters. And then repetition (think Bumper stickers).
I am so grateful you shared this, it helps humanize our fellow neighbors.
I think if I had paid attention more, the impeachment hearings would have been my first real aha. Around the time of the impeachment, I was overwhelmed with several major time and energy sucking events. I started to get my first inkling that something way beyond just Trump "shenanigans" was happening in spring 2020, a few weeks into the pandemic. At first, on Facebook, I was explaining what I understood regarding the news about the virus from my perspective as a former health care provider. I was seeking out reliable sources and sharing them. People were listening and appreciative. Then the bots and trolls came. People I had known for a long time were suddenly falling for these outlandish ideas that were circulating. I started getting attacked online.
When the election rhetoric heated up, I took a step that was way outside the norm and not only spoke- in a reasoned way- against Trump, but I took a stand and endorsed Biden to my friend group. I had never been political before, but I came to believe I had to speak up this time. Whoa boy! I was soon swimming in the vitriol directed at me. During election season, I read Steven Hassan's The Cult of Trump. After January 6th, I read Seth Abramson's Proof Trilogy. That series introduced me to the story of Trump's doings in a way that I hadn't grasped before. I continued to read many books and articles, including Ruth's book, Strongmen. I'd say it took me about a year and a half to finally feel like I had gotten to where the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place.
From your description, seems like the bots and trolls -- wrecked the messaging. I don't understand it, do you think it has to do with algorithms? It's like good messaging was thwarted -- throwing off (distracting) the general public's ability to comprehend factuality.
All of the news reporting and writing of disinfo experts clearly shows that visibile bot and troll activity has a lot to do with Facebook algorithms. I have the privacy settings on my own page set to lock my page down as much as possible while still allowing people I know to find me. When I posted on friends' pages and, occasionally, on a public page, the negative responses were huge. Some were clearly trolls. Others, like people I actually have known for years, had been radicalized by the right-wing media ecosystem. They were sharing memes and posts from suspect FB accounts. They responded to my attempts at reasoned discussion with insults and taunts.
Thank you for that insight. It's significant that people you, or I have known for years could be so influenced. It's like repetition and reward system in the algorithms. I had a friend of 50 years and our friendship hit the dimmer switch down to an off mode due to differing viewpoints and the base of our value systems had changed. This happened just last year. She's a judge in a different state's capitol. She was in my wedding, a friendship of 50 years who could ever predicted that?
Thank you for sharing. I think it is important to share how people became enlightened, and look for a pattern. I did a timeline of yours / mine enlightenment, and there is a similar pattern. Something seemed wrong, and you and I turned to books to learn deeper. After Mueller, I read Ruth's Strongmen, Steven Hassan's Cult of Trump, Secretary Madeleine Albright's Fascism: A Warning.
You bravely went onto social media Facebook and tried to influence, which certainly you did. That was hard to take those social beatings. I never took to Facebook, (my mom got moved into congregant care at the beginning of the pandemic to my protest and eventually succumb to covid, Nov 2020). I give you credit for sustaining Facebook. Have you given thought to how you might influence people on Facebook for this election cycle, if at all -- given the rigor it requires. You have inspired me to consider re-opening my fb account, as we sometimes can move-the-needle factually.
I remember reading of the patriots of the Delaware valley area where I use to live, what they endured to secure freedom c. 1775. I think of stories of my grandmother and the shortage of nylon in WWII and women could not easily wear hose with their dresses. Then I think, 'yea, we can do this.' They did that, we'll carry the water now.
You describe a pattern of a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, a bear out of hibernation -- how can we facilitate this amongst our neighbors?
Facebook is a double-edged sword, as is Twitter. I never used FB for anything remotely political until 2020, except for one post I made in spring 2016 calling out Trump as a dangerous narcissist. After that post, I went back into hiding as I wasn't sure I wanted my FB timeline to be political. In 2020 that changed. I post about political issues much less often now as it seems like most of my friends have returned to posting about personal events. However, I do, at least monthly, post a reminder of January 6th.
Going forward, how will I use FB for influence? After listening to today's Q&A, I think I need to post, but to keep each post short and sweet. I need to call out the GOP's autocratic moves as well as to post "successes" that the current administration has had. I am way too wordy and need to tighten up my messaging. But I also need to get back to my usual, give the facts as I know them. I need to connect them to *my* concerns about *my* future- and by extension, theirs. As a for instance, the GOP's (apparent) ultimate goal of destroying Medicare and Social Security impacts me as I'm soon going to be eligible for both. Most of my friends are, too.
You mention WWII. I recently found a leather pouch with ration stamps in my dad's collection of memorabilia. There were also letters back and forth from his mom & dad when his dad was stationed in England. He would have been involved in the Battle of Normandy (if I recall correctly) had it not been for a medical issue that came up and ultimately led to his return to the USA. My mom told me the story multiple times of citrus fruits being rationed during the war. My uncle developed scurvy and the neighbors banded together to get oranges for him with their ration stamps to heal the scurvy. There are many, many instances of where friends, families, and communities band together to help an individual or family in need today. We need to celebrate the way people can come together in difficult times and encourage this pro-social behavior.
Social Security and Medicare need to be talked about -- just not keeping but also their potential expansion (Medicare). Talking to a neighbor today who will need a hearing aid, I said 'does Medicare cover?' She said no, and we both thought that's kind of crazy. How is hearing loss different that hip replacement? Medicare / Elder care expansion benefits everyone. Rising tide raises all boats. Why wouldn't someone want to work for that?
Your courage and deep commitment to your family and others is the best place to begin the journey to fight fascist ideology because you model everything they hate and are trying to repress. You are an invaluable model of what it means to be curious and committed in dark times. We are all learning within different constraints. Thanks for the wonderful and inspiring note.
Henry, I love how you messaged that. I often think corruption vs love. When we deal on a street level in love, there is no corruption. The two can't exist together.
Thank you for your response, Henry. I am so grateful that Ruth has provided this space for thinking, caring people to interact and learn from one another.
A statistic most of the general public is unaware of. Only about 15 million Jews on this planet. Stats show billions of Chrisitans and Muslims plus other more dominant races, cultures and religions. Jews are only .19% of the world population. Point one nine. Not 19. "for emphasis". In Hungary it is 1%. Yet Orban scapegoats them. 7 million Jews which is about half of the global population live in the US. Yet still a small percentage out of the 330 million US citizens. Only 2%. So when someone blames the Jews point this out. Ask them if they really think the world is controlled by .19% of the people? Granted most humans are poor at numbers and don't understand correlation/causation. As to propaganda while many here understand what it is we have to also understand that most humans do not. Many simply can't overcome the lies they have been lead to believe. So how to limit it's effectiveness matters. Fact checking is great. Yet propaganda tells people to not trust the fact checkers. Exposing the lies for what they are sadly perpetuates them if not done correctly. Human nature also wants to shoot the messenger. So it can certainly backfire on the group/person exposing the lies/liar. People like these lies and the liars for a reason. They offer these people something. Of course they implant the fear and then they make themselves the only person/group that has the solution to end the false problem. Can't change the minds of milliions. The effort needs to be on making the incentive to lie costlier. Politically or economically.
They should be referenced as such to viewer citizens. The question of the hour is 'Does America want an autocratic government or not?' A CNN poll (May 2022), when questioning/ ranking pressing issues such as economy, domestic issues, foreign issues --- should outright poll Americans 'autocratic government'. Agree, need to bring this baby out from behind the bushel.
This is a fabulous piece, informative historically, and clear on the roots of this fascist drivel. What I find lacking in most of the commentaries on the shooter is his comments on loneliness and how in his search for community he seized upon white supremacist ideology, leading of course to mass violence. Little is said about both the lack of anti-racist education that might enable youth to be seduced by white supremacy ideology and the ways in which neoliberal capitalism produces loneliness, depression, and the death of the social for many young people. More specifically, neoliberalism is the architectural, ideological foundation for the destruction of community, the social, and any viable notion of social responsibility. Think about Milton Friedman and the Chicago School and their embrace of fascism under Pinochet. Replacement theory is the prefect discourse to fill that void, offering a community of hate, now legitimated by a mix of power exercised by GOP politicians, a corporate controlled web of cultural apparatuses (Murdoch in particular}, and political system driven entirely by big money and a financial elite. Fascist politics and white supremacy is all they have left as a world view.
It is an easy transition from our neoliberal plutocracy to a fascist cartel system. This might have been the plan all along. Neoliberal economics could have been the transitionary phase before installing the fascism that they had wanted all along.
I noticed today in talking to people, that people outwardly expressing a need for stability and sense of security., and lack of inflation. Not good news, as these elements can draw them like magnets to the strongmen-variety. We have careful messaging and education work to do before November midterms; and increasing the commitment of those that will vote in Nov.
Narrowing and narrowing the view to a pinpoint for the populace. We should start a campaign on the beauty in daily life and benefit of critical thinking skills.
Hey Jan. If you get a chance, take a look at "Taking America Back for God", Whitehead/Perry. Excellent book about Christian attitudes and the highjacking of the evangelical movement.
Hi Jan, They are just as Christian as you. The Taliban are religious just like you and believe in a god. You likely have a more liberal mind and the others have a more conservative mind. The Puritans killed Quakers in Boston. Both were Christian groups. Puritans would be considered conservative and far right. Quakers were more liberal or left. Liberal and conservative are functions of the human mind. The Far Right uses religion today to create a voting block for these authoritarians based on the same god belief. What should concern religious Americans is that what this group wants is what our Founders warned about and why they addressed this when writing the Constitution. A secular government is necessary for a peaceful society where laws treat all equally. The Founders were concerned only about Christians fighting other Christians at that time and trying to impose one brand's practices and beliefs on all members of society. Millions have been killed or over slight differences in how one practices Christianity at the hands of fellow Christians. As this post is about propaganda. Relgion is the first form of propaganda. It's not true, it is tribal, it uses fear and gives authoritarians power and scapegoates others. All a result of how the human mind works and how others understand it to take advantage. Some use it and do great harm yet if done for the right reasons it can be used for the benefit of all.
Respectfully I have to disagree. I do not like the term of Christianity misused for gain. Being Christian does not mean you necessarily are religious. Religious factions fighting each other is not taught as Gospel, so something doesn't square. That is pseudo-Christianity (example above of Puritans and Quakers). Being part of a religion or being religious is an activity, not a belief. As a Christian, I see the terminology is being twisted, hijacked and misused. Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus of love, forgiveness and grace. It is blasphemous to use those concepts against their true and known purpose. Separation of church and state is a recipe that has been terminated by the autocrats among us. They are using the term Christianity to herd the sheep --- into a lion's den.
Hi Jan. Always respectfully. I know you mean well. Yet, that's a No True Scotsman argument and cherry picking too. McDonald's makes hamburgers and so does Burger King. If you make one at home that doesn't mean that the other two aren't hamburgers. Especially if you are making one at home using a book written by McDonalds and simply calling it Jan's burger and claiming the other two are not burgers. As to cherry picking. You are defining your version as perfect and negating all of the bad. I don't get to choose definitions I like. I can only describe things as they are and have been for thousands of years. We can not solve problems without understanding what is causing humans to behave the way they are. You can't redefine what the term Christianity means. We could say Right Wing Evangelical or Conservative Catholic to differentiate between Christian groups. Or Liberal Episcopalian. Not everyone is the same brand. If you are not part of a particular religion and are more open to freedom and less authoritarianism then you are a more liberal Christian. In the US millions of Christians supported Trump. He is not the brightest bulb but he is intuitive on how to manipulate others with his lies. Christianity is used today and was develped to herd humans into a group/tribe lead by an authoritarian leader. Be it a pastor, priest or pope. The priestly class is by design. It's a branch below the king or ruler usually. First by Constantine for Christianity and then others. Later it tried to be over the kings and then the kings with real armies would have none of it and it was put back in it's place as a tool but not the authority. It's designed to provide authority to the ruler. Divine right and all that. Ceasars were considered gods after all. Being a member of a religion is a tell. It is a sign of someone that will follow authority, cultural norms, and group think without question. Many humans are attracted to rituals and events that are high on emotion and not reason. Which is what an authoritarian uses and therefore Trump uses at his events. You might not think God sent Trump to lead the US. Millions of Christians did and still do. Not all Christians are the same. There is more to it then the actual belief as I mentioned before. So I am not putting you in that category of Christian at all. Yet they are Christian. I can tell very quickly if someone is liberal or conservative in the US based on a few questions. Others have a site that can break things down to even finer levels. Another tell is a person open to change or rigid and want things to remain the same or go back to an earlier time frame? Can a person continue learning or are the stuck on some philosophy? Think of the Taliban as the same as conservative Christians today. Then there are liberal Christians that are for gay rights, fought for woman's rights and wanted to free the slaves. Liberal Christians understand what secular means. They want to practice their faith without someone forcing them to practice it how they want. Conservatives will use the power of the US government to force their beliefs on others. It's a propaganda trick when they accuse liberals of this. Projection and more. Gays getting married is not forced on Conservative Christians. The Bible is present all over the country. Just not in public schools. The Founders understood this. If Americans today want what the Founders wanted then we need to vote against such authoritarians that want to impose their beliefs on others. Conservative minds are about following authority and keeping their cultural norms not those of others. They would imprison someone for burning a flag or a bible. They will try a woman for murder for aborting a baby and maybe give her a death sentence. They would impose their beliefs on others if given the power to do so. We are seeing that happen in real time. As I heard from a Holocaust survior a few years ago. Hitler broke no German laws. The Courts there backed him. Conservative judges on conservative courts. This current SCOTUS will back any law that a conservative Republican House/Senate/President passes. Even if it takes our country back 100 years. It's why they were chosen by others. It was purposeful. Others had their minds tested and they were vetted so that they would deliver. They might not even realize that they are being used for other's political, power and profit. It's serious business. Religion is politics.
Thank you for making the distinction between "religion" and the Gospel. This movement of "evangelical Christians" as they are labeled in the media has barreled full force towards autocracy and theocracy. Autocracy, in my view, is antithetical to all Jesus taught. As my husband has often said, when Christianity gets mixed up with politics, it typically does not end well.
Before 2020, I was not aware of how the views undergirding the MAGA cult are so deeply ingrained into "mainstream" church culture. I also was not aware of the history of the church in upholding the racist, pro-slavery views during that era of US history. I'm a Northerner and, apparently, I was raised culturally and in my faith in a bubble where we just don't think that way. I've never spent a lot of time watching TV or other media. Like many, I learned the surface details of events and people, but never understood the undercurrents and the behind-the-scenes action. When 2020 came, I was literally knocked off my feet as I tried to figure out where all the ugliness came from and why people of faith that I know were suddenly becoming very ugly. It certainly has been a journey trying to figure out how the pieces of the puzzle fit together as the ground continues to rapidly shift under our feet.
Agree. Marie, your post speaks of much hope. That people are thinking, each of us, more broadly and deeply. If we just keep listening deeply to others, validating their personhood & gentle and honest conversations flowing, maybe we can help more brothers & sisters back up from the gravel and back onto the good road (as my late Dad would say). I hope millions of Americans are marinating the questions you describe in the minds.
Hi Jan, would you be willing to connect outside this discussion forum? I think we may have similar ideas about faith & the current political situation. No one else in my own faith community is investing time in deep reading and thinking about the topics Lucid deals with, or if they are they aren’t talking about it so I don’t know who they are.
What is it about the "Jewish People and Allied Elites" that keep occurring in history. I have gone back to the Essenes and the writings of Josephus, among others, and still have no clear answer. I have traced back to Ramses and the well known stories, nothing. Mesopotamia, the City of Ur, birth of modern civilization, Zoroastrians Priests, Astrology, still no clear answer. I have read that Abraham was a contemporary of Hermes Trismegistus and can be traced to certain lost information............... Ukraine has the 4th largest population of Jewish people in Europe. Interesting fact, given that a Fascist madman is bombing them into annihilation. Currently, Western Europe is not a friend of the Jews and far right Nationalism is on the steady rise there, as well as the US........... Replacement theory, at its core, is about Jews, as your reference to George Soros indicates. Black, Brown, Yellow, Red and everyone else, except White, is seen as secondary to Jews. Why are we seeing the advancement of mass psychosis at this point in history, AGAIN. Why are the Jews at the center of the current uproar? Will we see a confluence of seemingly innocent connections continue to rise, as Tim Snyder points too in, "Black Earth", leading toward more unspeakable horrors ? Is the world living in the 1930's again.................... What is it about the Jews, Allied Elites, Fascists acting out primal fear and World History.............. This affects everyone. We will all be called on to stand accountable. Will we stand for truth, or silently side with Fascism. Will we be with The White Rose, or the SS. Will we place our life on the line for friends and truth.............. Seems, we are out of a Formula. The line is being drawn.
Part of it I think is that Jews have always been successful in business and commerce allowing them to achieve social and economic status while still remaining a distinct minority within the greater society. The fact that they are a minority but yet still elite and powerful enough to be movers and shakers behind the scenes makes them easy targets for conspiracy theorists, authoritarians and fascists. It goes back hundreds of years.
Thank you Ruth for tying Carlson into this historical timeline. Also, in thinking about Elise Stefanik’s call to starve babies at the border by taking formula away, and then voting against a program to provide more formula, I see the Republicans as trying to get rid of those they see as ‘useless eaters.’ Another parallel.
The PBS NewsHour last night (05/19/22) had a segment pertaining to the baby formula issue. It appears that there are only 4 companies in the U.S. producing 90 percent of the formula. Here, again, as in the case of oil, the consumer suffers when corporate monopolies rig the market. The investigation is still underway as to why the FDA did not respond earlier to a whistleblower complaint regarding the Abbott plant where contamination is suspected as leading to the death of several babies, We need rigorous enforcement of our anti-trust laws. The Republicans are always crowing about the "free enterprise" system. Let them prove it. President Biden has stepped up to the plate and is using the Defense Production Act to solve the problem.
Hypocrisy that it's the governments problem to fix the free market according to conservatives today. Or when convenient for them. They also don't like government agencies to oversee business like the EPA or FDA but of course now they do. Because they can blame Biden for political convenience. What matters is what works not political or economic philosophy.
I find the timing of the baby formula crisis alarming. In my lifetime, there has never been this. Why now? Sure, feeds into a 'whip up fear' in the populace moment. When elections come, the autocrats will use this as election fear-propaganda. "Now -- we have to worry about feeding our babies!! This has never happened before". Something with the timing of the FDA is 'off' on this. It discredits the institution of the FDA,(a medical agency/ institution of our democracy) -- also during the time of a pandemic. These autocrats are strategically evil. Our God is not a fool.
Glad it was helpful. Part of a longer piece I am struggling with and have been researching for too long.
indeed, it is America's turn next!
Thanks for the input Jan. My money says the NFL catered to the White audience/culture for decades. Now that the NFL is so predominantly Black (players), I suspect it caters to the Black audience/culture. The NFL can't please everyone.
As a trial lawyer who represented many wonderful Black people in civil rights cases, and in some criminal and personal injury cases, I got to see the rich Black culture close up (early on) in my late 20s. I suspect sexual prudishness (in general) turns some Whites off (and, perhaps, some Blacks too) when they watched the Black performers at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime. No doubt it's different than what I grew up on in my formative years. But, its a big world with so many disparate tastes. So we have to keep an open mind, and go out of our comfort zone (sometimes).
As my non-prudish, rebellious Irish Mother always told me... "Freddie me boy, you ain't everybody's cup of tea either, so live and let live." Disclaimer. I took my 8th grade educated, Irish Mother to the play Hair in 1969 in San Francisco. She loved it. She also loved the Krishna Hindus dancing on the streets of Haight Asbury during the Summer of love in 1967.
I never saw the half-time so I don't know what was showing. I wondered if it was intended to be over-the-top and thought provoking, cause discussion on the disparities. The story of your mom puts a smile on my face. My British grandma use to have sayings that would teach and stick in your mind too, that we still cherish. I am touched by your experiences representing others in civil rights cases. The world can be a rich tapestry, if we'd only be open to it.
Replacement theory ???
Hey, Tucker Carlson, do you believe in Capitalism ??? Hey, you Whites who complain about being "replaced"... do you believe in Capitalism ??? Answer ??? Of course you do... especially when it's White guys (like us) who have grown up with all the advantages and all the opportunities... previously denied to people of color.
All those White ball players who use to be Major Leaguers before Jackie Robinson and Larry Dolby broke the color barrier... are now hopelessly stuck in the minor leagues, "replaced" by Blacks (who use to play in the Negro Leagues) and replaced by Major League ballplayers from Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Korea, Japan, Colombia (our own Detroit Tiger, Hall of Famer to be... Miguel Cabrera), etc.
Tucker Carlson, you and your whining, White followers don't want the level playing field of Capitalism and survival of the fittest. You and your followers want the old "leg up" ... the same leg up you have had for four centuries in America. You want an economic playing field that favors your White lineage in America... a White-lineage advantage that still exists in America 400 years and counting...
* 1619... Introduction of Black slaves in America to
* 1865... Black slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment to
* 1865... Blacks dominated by Jim Crow laws of "Separate but Equal" to
* 1950s... Brown vs Board of Education starts to dismantle Jim Crow and "Separate but Equal" to
* 1965 Civi Rights Laws to
* 2020 George Floyd.
A period of 400 years (over five centuries) when White men like Carlson and his weak kneed followers were supreme, and had all the opportunities... while the people of color sat in the back of the bus, or, perhaps, were lynched if they got too uppity or talked too loud on the bus, or, God forbid, someone thought they may have looked at a White woman.
"Replacement" is the way Capitalism has always worked. Ask the players in the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, the American League, the National league, PGA, General Motors UAW, Ford UAW, old Chrysler UAW, Teamsters, all the Union workers fighting against the duplicitous "Right to Work" laws, all the "small business" Mom and Pops of America. In Capitalism, we are all competing against our replacements... day in, day out. Month in, month out. Year in, year out. White Capitalists had no problem with the four Centuries when the shoe was on the other foot, and they had an artificial advantage form the mere color of their White skin.
Grow up Tucker Carlson. Grow up the rest of you who chant, "We wont be replaced by [fill in the blank]." Quit whining because you don't have heart of a competitor. Quit crying because you don't have the heart of a champion. Quit your B.S. chanting about replacement because you can't figure out how to monopolize Capitalism like you did in the good old days when America was great again.
Fred Lauck
I am glad you brought up the sports analogy. This year I had friend who was super-hyped up for the Super Bowl. After half-time, she turned off the TV and the rest of the game, she was so mentally thwarted and confused by the half-time show saying it was so black and the performances reflected the black culture and she was disgusted. I did not watch the Super Bowl (not a football-watcher). She was lamenting so, I asked her if she thought whites should do the show. Or, would it hard to get a group of whites to do the show? Would they want to? Or had it been delegated to the blacks? Either way, as performers, they creatively create their performance, as an art-form. I did see the Super Bowl commercials (You Tube) and found them to be thought provoking, in a good way, to provoke discussions of values, a good dinner table conversation. She did not want to discuss these and found them confusing. Period, no discussion. Several days after this, I couldn't help think of the NFL, sports, race-issues and fairness.
A concept that acts as an accelerant to the fears generated by replacement theory is what some refer to as "fixed pie" economics, the simplistic idea that resources are largely fixed such that population increases inevitably result in your slice of the "pie" getting smaller. This is further amplified by the unwarranted assumption that, overall, new arrivals will perpetually take more resources than they contribute. The pie will never grow as a result of this new blood. But who would have thought that a new arrival to these shores with but 38 cents in his pocket named Andrew Carnegie would single handedly make the pie so much larger that he found it. How conceited it is to think that new legal immigrants cannot possibly grow the pie even a modest bit. We have to remember that a rising tide lifts all boats, the new ones and the older ones too. At the very least new immigrant workers will finance the social security payments of all retirees including those who today are so fretted about adding to the already heterogenous American population.
Not a fan of Carnegie. His workers did not benefit from the profits. Also insider trading was legal then. Plus a dam broke and flooded a town and killed people and the club Carnegie was a member of and built the dam got away with it. Not sure how he made the pie bigger? The Industrial Revolution was happening and he certainly profitted but he didn't discover steel or invent anything. Growing the pie isn't the same as quality of life. The US GDP rises but the workers here are not seeing the benefits of it. Granted labor never has historically except for recent history for the few decades after WW2.
Replacement theory is a well known antisemitic trope, Frank. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are filled with them. This is a Fascist talking point. One that has been used throughout history. Make no mistake, we are living in a Fascist Petri dish. It won't take much for the 30% to take over this country. Look at the post below you, Frank. This is what it looks like, Fascism. The propagation of psychotic lies. The Jews have always been the worlds punching bag, in other words, they are a leading indicator............ I agree with your fixed pie theory. America has plenty for the need, but not the greed. The Fascist White Nationalist Supremists, are the greed.
It's a scarcity mindset. Evangelicals should realize the Gospel does not promote tho concept of scarcity, quite the opposite, grace. Scarcity's root word is 'scared'. What good honest person would promote scaring people?! Agree a rising tide lifts all boats.
Replacement Theory is a red herring. Millions of people streaming over the border undocumented is the issue that bothers most Americans but it is not about race. Importing millions of people who will need government assistance is clearly a strategy for the Dems to build a permanent majority. And, unlike American citizens, these illegal immigrants will not complain when the country descends in to feudal state.
The GOP hasn’t won the popular vote since 1988.
Hi Jan, I have been writing about this connection for over thirty years. See www.henryagiroux.com
I liked your tweet yesterday "a new age of fascist politics brings a war on youth -- but young people are ready to resist" --- as I work with TheCivicsCenter.org to phone-bank high schools to register seniors while they are still in school. We need their immediate engagement. Thank you for sharing your website, rich with depth.
My reading list just got much longer, Henry! While I was not paying attention, all of this move toward authoritarianism was happening under my nose. And people like you, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and Timothy Snyder have been writing about it.
I'm sure there must be people like me who care and would not want to see a complete fascist/authoritarian takeover in the US , but who are as yet unaware of how the puzzle pieces fit together. We have watched or listened to news daily but have not dug deep enough to make connections. Like me, many people have been busy with the daily patterns of life. For me, in the last 10 years it has been things like getting my last child, a student with dyslexia, through high school & college; nursing my mother through cancer until she passed & caring for my disabled father; spending 5 years on graduate study in Special Education/Educational Therapy; starting a business; and more. The amount of time I could allot for deep reading on any topic other than my own studies was limited. That changed for me in 2020. I now have an insatiable need to understand. I don't cope well when I don't understand what's behind the chaos.
Marie, what you have written is forthright and telling. It speaks of probably a large swath of Americans. So the question is: How do we refine our message? Can you share what your first 'aha' moment was to read deeper and that something sinister might be going on?
Thinking back myself, it was during the first impeachment hearings and conversations I had with my mom (a Trump supporter). Not liking Trump, but completely unaware of the depth of destruction going on, I bought a copy of the Mueller report --- and that changed everything and I started seeking more information.
Knowing how we come to that point of 'aha' might help us strategize how to reach more well-meaning, super-busy fellow citizens who are just drawing enough breath to get through each day.
Understanding this is deep. And yet brevity matters. And then repetition (think Bumper stickers).
I am so grateful you shared this, it helps humanize our fellow neighbors.
I think if I had paid attention more, the impeachment hearings would have been my first real aha. Around the time of the impeachment, I was overwhelmed with several major time and energy sucking events. I started to get my first inkling that something way beyond just Trump "shenanigans" was happening in spring 2020, a few weeks into the pandemic. At first, on Facebook, I was explaining what I understood regarding the news about the virus from my perspective as a former health care provider. I was seeking out reliable sources and sharing them. People were listening and appreciative. Then the bots and trolls came. People I had known for a long time were suddenly falling for these outlandish ideas that were circulating. I started getting attacked online.
When the election rhetoric heated up, I took a step that was way outside the norm and not only spoke- in a reasoned way- against Trump, but I took a stand and endorsed Biden to my friend group. I had never been political before, but I came to believe I had to speak up this time. Whoa boy! I was soon swimming in the vitriol directed at me. During election season, I read Steven Hassan's The Cult of Trump. After January 6th, I read Seth Abramson's Proof Trilogy. That series introduced me to the story of Trump's doings in a way that I hadn't grasped before. I continued to read many books and articles, including Ruth's book, Strongmen. I'd say it took me about a year and a half to finally feel like I had gotten to where the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place.
From your description, seems like the bots and trolls -- wrecked the messaging. I don't understand it, do you think it has to do with algorithms? It's like good messaging was thwarted -- throwing off (distracting) the general public's ability to comprehend factuality.
All of the news reporting and writing of disinfo experts clearly shows that visibile bot and troll activity has a lot to do with Facebook algorithms. I have the privacy settings on my own page set to lock my page down as much as possible while still allowing people I know to find me. When I posted on friends' pages and, occasionally, on a public page, the negative responses were huge. Some were clearly trolls. Others, like people I actually have known for years, had been radicalized by the right-wing media ecosystem. They were sharing memes and posts from suspect FB accounts. They responded to my attempts at reasoned discussion with insults and taunts.
Thank you for that insight. It's significant that people you, or I have known for years could be so influenced. It's like repetition and reward system in the algorithms. I had a friend of 50 years and our friendship hit the dimmer switch down to an off mode due to differing viewpoints and the base of our value systems had changed. This happened just last year. She's a judge in a different state's capitol. She was in my wedding, a friendship of 50 years who could ever predicted that?
Thank you for sharing. I think it is important to share how people became enlightened, and look for a pattern. I did a timeline of yours / mine enlightenment, and there is a similar pattern. Something seemed wrong, and you and I turned to books to learn deeper. After Mueller, I read Ruth's Strongmen, Steven Hassan's Cult of Trump, Secretary Madeleine Albright's Fascism: A Warning.
You bravely went onto social media Facebook and tried to influence, which certainly you did. That was hard to take those social beatings. I never took to Facebook, (my mom got moved into congregant care at the beginning of the pandemic to my protest and eventually succumb to covid, Nov 2020). I give you credit for sustaining Facebook. Have you given thought to how you might influence people on Facebook for this election cycle, if at all -- given the rigor it requires. You have inspired me to consider re-opening my fb account, as we sometimes can move-the-needle factually.
I remember reading of the patriots of the Delaware valley area where I use to live, what they endured to secure freedom c. 1775. I think of stories of my grandmother and the shortage of nylon in WWII and women could not easily wear hose with their dresses. Then I think, 'yea, we can do this.' They did that, we'll carry the water now.
You describe a pattern of a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, a bear out of hibernation -- how can we facilitate this amongst our neighbors?
Vote big 2022.
Facebook is a double-edged sword, as is Twitter. I never used FB for anything remotely political until 2020, except for one post I made in spring 2016 calling out Trump as a dangerous narcissist. After that post, I went back into hiding as I wasn't sure I wanted my FB timeline to be political. In 2020 that changed. I post about political issues much less often now as it seems like most of my friends have returned to posting about personal events. However, I do, at least monthly, post a reminder of January 6th.
Going forward, how will I use FB for influence? After listening to today's Q&A, I think I need to post, but to keep each post short and sweet. I need to call out the GOP's autocratic moves as well as to post "successes" that the current administration has had. I am way too wordy and need to tighten up my messaging. But I also need to get back to my usual, give the facts as I know them. I need to connect them to *my* concerns about *my* future- and by extension, theirs. As a for instance, the GOP's (apparent) ultimate goal of destroying Medicare and Social Security impacts me as I'm soon going to be eligible for both. Most of my friends are, too.
You mention WWII. I recently found a leather pouch with ration stamps in my dad's collection of memorabilia. There were also letters back and forth from his mom & dad when his dad was stationed in England. He would have been involved in the Battle of Normandy (if I recall correctly) had it not been for a medical issue that came up and ultimately led to his return to the USA. My mom told me the story multiple times of citrus fruits being rationed during the war. My uncle developed scurvy and the neighbors banded together to get oranges for him with their ration stamps to heal the scurvy. There are many, many instances of where friends, families, and communities band together to help an individual or family in need today. We need to celebrate the way people can come together in difficult times and encourage this pro-social behavior.
I like your ideas on messaging.
Social Security and Medicare need to be talked about -- just not keeping but also their potential expansion (Medicare). Talking to a neighbor today who will need a hearing aid, I said 'does Medicare cover?' She said no, and we both thought that's kind of crazy. How is hearing loss different that hip replacement? Medicare / Elder care expansion benefits everyone. Rising tide raises all boats. Why wouldn't someone want to work for that?
Your courage and deep commitment to your family and others is the best place to begin the journey to fight fascist ideology because you model everything they hate and are trying to repress. You are an invaluable model of what it means to be curious and committed in dark times. We are all learning within different constraints. Thanks for the wonderful and inspiring note.
Henry, I love how you messaged that. I often think corruption vs love. When we deal on a street level in love, there is no corruption. The two can't exist together.
Thank you for your response, Henry. I am so grateful that Ruth has provided this space for thinking, caring people to interact and learn from one another.
thank you Henry.
A statistic most of the general public is unaware of. Only about 15 million Jews on this planet. Stats show billions of Chrisitans and Muslims plus other more dominant races, cultures and religions. Jews are only .19% of the world population. Point one nine. Not 19. "for emphasis". In Hungary it is 1%. Yet Orban scapegoats them. 7 million Jews which is about half of the global population live in the US. Yet still a small percentage out of the 330 million US citizens. Only 2%. So when someone blames the Jews point this out. Ask them if they really think the world is controlled by .19% of the people? Granted most humans are poor at numbers and don't understand correlation/causation. As to propaganda while many here understand what it is we have to also understand that most humans do not. Many simply can't overcome the lies they have been lead to believe. So how to limit it's effectiveness matters. Fact checking is great. Yet propaganda tells people to not trust the fact checkers. Exposing the lies for what they are sadly perpetuates them if not done correctly. Human nature also wants to shoot the messenger. So it can certainly backfire on the group/person exposing the lies/liar. People like these lies and the liars for a reason. They offer these people something. Of course they implant the fear and then they make themselves the only person/group that has the solution to end the false problem. Can't change the minds of milliions. The effort needs to be on making the incentive to lie costlier. Politically or economically.
👏👏👏 and still, the tropes and scapegoating continues. What's with the Jews and history. White, psychotic, fascist, nationalism does not explain it.
So can we all agree the far right, white supremacist groups and its propagandists like Tucker Carlson are neo fascists?
They should be referenced as such to viewer citizens. The question of the hour is 'Does America want an autocratic government or not?' A CNN poll (May 2022), when questioning/ ranking pressing issues such as economy, domestic issues, foreign issues --- should outright poll Americans 'autocratic government'. Agree, need to bring this baby out from behind the bushel.
This is a fabulous piece, informative historically, and clear on the roots of this fascist drivel. What I find lacking in most of the commentaries on the shooter is his comments on loneliness and how in his search for community he seized upon white supremacist ideology, leading of course to mass violence. Little is said about both the lack of anti-racist education that might enable youth to be seduced by white supremacy ideology and the ways in which neoliberal capitalism produces loneliness, depression, and the death of the social for many young people. More specifically, neoliberalism is the architectural, ideological foundation for the destruction of community, the social, and any viable notion of social responsibility. Think about Milton Friedman and the Chicago School and their embrace of fascism under Pinochet. Replacement theory is the prefect discourse to fill that void, offering a community of hate, now legitimated by a mix of power exercised by GOP politicians, a corporate controlled web of cultural apparatuses (Murdoch in particular}, and political system driven entirely by big money and a financial elite. Fascist politics and white supremacy is all they have left as a world view.
It is an easy transition from our neoliberal plutocracy to a fascist cartel system. This might have been the plan all along. Neoliberal economics could have been the transitionary phase before installing the fascism that they had wanted all along.
I noticed today in talking to people, that people outwardly expressing a need for stability and sense of security., and lack of inflation. Not good news, as these elements can draw them like magnets to the strongmen-variety. We have careful messaging and education work to do before November midterms; and increasing the commitment of those that will vote in Nov.
Narrowing and narrowing the view to a pinpoint for the populace. We should start a campaign on the beauty in daily life and benefit of critical thinking skills.
As a Christian woman, these people are nuts. They are pseudo-Christians who have rejected the Gospel. And our God is not a fool.
Hey Jan. If you get a chance, take a look at "Taking America Back for God", Whitehead/Perry. Excellent book about Christian attitudes and the highjacking of the evangelical movement.
Art, thank you for the book recommendation, appreciate.
Hi Jan, They are just as Christian as you. The Taliban are religious just like you and believe in a god. You likely have a more liberal mind and the others have a more conservative mind. The Puritans killed Quakers in Boston. Both were Christian groups. Puritans would be considered conservative and far right. Quakers were more liberal or left. Liberal and conservative are functions of the human mind. The Far Right uses religion today to create a voting block for these authoritarians based on the same god belief. What should concern religious Americans is that what this group wants is what our Founders warned about and why they addressed this when writing the Constitution. A secular government is necessary for a peaceful society where laws treat all equally. The Founders were concerned only about Christians fighting other Christians at that time and trying to impose one brand's practices and beliefs on all members of society. Millions have been killed or over slight differences in how one practices Christianity at the hands of fellow Christians. As this post is about propaganda. Relgion is the first form of propaganda. It's not true, it is tribal, it uses fear and gives authoritarians power and scapegoates others. All a result of how the human mind works and how others understand it to take advantage. Some use it and do great harm yet if done for the right reasons it can be used for the benefit of all.
Respectfully I have to disagree. I do not like the term of Christianity misused for gain. Being Christian does not mean you necessarily are religious. Religious factions fighting each other is not taught as Gospel, so something doesn't square. That is pseudo-Christianity (example above of Puritans and Quakers). Being part of a religion or being religious is an activity, not a belief. As a Christian, I see the terminology is being twisted, hijacked and misused. Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus of love, forgiveness and grace. It is blasphemous to use those concepts against their true and known purpose. Separation of church and state is a recipe that has been terminated by the autocrats among us. They are using the term Christianity to herd the sheep --- into a lion's den.
Hi Jan. Always respectfully. I know you mean well. Yet, that's a No True Scotsman argument and cherry picking too. McDonald's makes hamburgers and so does Burger King. If you make one at home that doesn't mean that the other two aren't hamburgers. Especially if you are making one at home using a book written by McDonalds and simply calling it Jan's burger and claiming the other two are not burgers. As to cherry picking. You are defining your version as perfect and negating all of the bad. I don't get to choose definitions I like. I can only describe things as they are and have been for thousands of years. We can not solve problems without understanding what is causing humans to behave the way they are. You can't redefine what the term Christianity means. We could say Right Wing Evangelical or Conservative Catholic to differentiate between Christian groups. Or Liberal Episcopalian. Not everyone is the same brand. If you are not part of a particular religion and are more open to freedom and less authoritarianism then you are a more liberal Christian. In the US millions of Christians supported Trump. He is not the brightest bulb but he is intuitive on how to manipulate others with his lies. Christianity is used today and was develped to herd humans into a group/tribe lead by an authoritarian leader. Be it a pastor, priest or pope. The priestly class is by design. It's a branch below the king or ruler usually. First by Constantine for Christianity and then others. Later it tried to be over the kings and then the kings with real armies would have none of it and it was put back in it's place as a tool but not the authority. It's designed to provide authority to the ruler. Divine right and all that. Ceasars were considered gods after all. Being a member of a religion is a tell. It is a sign of someone that will follow authority, cultural norms, and group think without question. Many humans are attracted to rituals and events that are high on emotion and not reason. Which is what an authoritarian uses and therefore Trump uses at his events. You might not think God sent Trump to lead the US. Millions of Christians did and still do. Not all Christians are the same. There is more to it then the actual belief as I mentioned before. So I am not putting you in that category of Christian at all. Yet they are Christian. I can tell very quickly if someone is liberal or conservative in the US based on a few questions. Others have a site that can break things down to even finer levels. Another tell is a person open to change or rigid and want things to remain the same or go back to an earlier time frame? Can a person continue learning or are the stuck on some philosophy? Think of the Taliban as the same as conservative Christians today. Then there are liberal Christians that are for gay rights, fought for woman's rights and wanted to free the slaves. Liberal Christians understand what secular means. They want to practice their faith without someone forcing them to practice it how they want. Conservatives will use the power of the US government to force their beliefs on others. It's a propaganda trick when they accuse liberals of this. Projection and more. Gays getting married is not forced on Conservative Christians. The Bible is present all over the country. Just not in public schools. The Founders understood this. If Americans today want what the Founders wanted then we need to vote against such authoritarians that want to impose their beliefs on others. Conservative minds are about following authority and keeping their cultural norms not those of others. They would imprison someone for burning a flag or a bible. They will try a woman for murder for aborting a baby and maybe give her a death sentence. They would impose their beliefs on others if given the power to do so. We are seeing that happen in real time. As I heard from a Holocaust survior a few years ago. Hitler broke no German laws. The Courts there backed him. Conservative judges on conservative courts. This current SCOTUS will back any law that a conservative Republican House/Senate/President passes. Even if it takes our country back 100 years. It's why they were chosen by others. It was purposeful. Others had their minds tested and they were vetted so that they would deliver. They might not even realize that they are being used for other's political, power and profit. It's serious business. Religion is politics.
I agree, religion is politics.
Thank you for making the distinction between "religion" and the Gospel. This movement of "evangelical Christians" as they are labeled in the media has barreled full force towards autocracy and theocracy. Autocracy, in my view, is antithetical to all Jesus taught. As my husband has often said, when Christianity gets mixed up with politics, it typically does not end well.
Before 2020, I was not aware of how the views undergirding the MAGA cult are so deeply ingrained into "mainstream" church culture. I also was not aware of the history of the church in upholding the racist, pro-slavery views during that era of US history. I'm a Northerner and, apparently, I was raised culturally and in my faith in a bubble where we just don't think that way. I've never spent a lot of time watching TV or other media. Like many, I learned the surface details of events and people, but never understood the undercurrents and the behind-the-scenes action. When 2020 came, I was literally knocked off my feet as I tried to figure out where all the ugliness came from and why people of faith that I know were suddenly becoming very ugly. It certainly has been a journey trying to figure out how the pieces of the puzzle fit together as the ground continues to rapidly shift under our feet.
Agree. Marie, your post speaks of much hope. That people are thinking, each of us, more broadly and deeply. If we just keep listening deeply to others, validating their personhood & gentle and honest conversations flowing, maybe we can help more brothers & sisters back up from the gravel and back onto the good road (as my late Dad would say). I hope millions of Americans are marinating the questions you describe in the minds.
Hi Jan, would you be willing to connect outside this discussion forum? I think we may have similar ideas about faith & the current political situation. No one else in my own faith community is investing time in deep reading and thinking about the topics Lucid deals with, or if they are they aren’t talking about it so I don’t know who they are.
Hi Marie, are you on the chat with calls on Fridays @ 1:00 EST?
They should be called out as such.
What is it about the "Jewish People and Allied Elites" that keep occurring in history. I have gone back to the Essenes and the writings of Josephus, among others, and still have no clear answer. I have traced back to Ramses and the well known stories, nothing. Mesopotamia, the City of Ur, birth of modern civilization, Zoroastrians Priests, Astrology, still no clear answer. I have read that Abraham was a contemporary of Hermes Trismegistus and can be traced to certain lost information............... Ukraine has the 4th largest population of Jewish people in Europe. Interesting fact, given that a Fascist madman is bombing them into annihilation. Currently, Western Europe is not a friend of the Jews and far right Nationalism is on the steady rise there, as well as the US........... Replacement theory, at its core, is about Jews, as your reference to George Soros indicates. Black, Brown, Yellow, Red and everyone else, except White, is seen as secondary to Jews. Why are we seeing the advancement of mass psychosis at this point in history, AGAIN. Why are the Jews at the center of the current uproar? Will we see a confluence of seemingly innocent connections continue to rise, as Tim Snyder points too in, "Black Earth", leading toward more unspeakable horrors ? Is the world living in the 1930's again.................... What is it about the Jews, Allied Elites, Fascists acting out primal fear and World History.............. This affects everyone. We will all be called on to stand accountable. Will we stand for truth, or silently side with Fascism. Will we be with The White Rose, or the SS. Will we place our life on the line for friends and truth.............. Seems, we are out of a Formula. The line is being drawn.
Part of it I think is that Jews have always been successful in business and commerce allowing them to achieve social and economic status while still remaining a distinct minority within the greater society. The fact that they are a minority but yet still elite and powerful enough to be movers and shakers behind the scenes makes them easy targets for conspiracy theorists, authoritarians and fascists. It goes back hundreds of years.
These are challenging times and we need your voice and clear vision if we are going to keep our country alive and well.
Thank you Ruth for tying Carlson into this historical timeline. Also, in thinking about Elise Stefanik’s call to starve babies at the border by taking formula away, and then voting against a program to provide more formula, I see the Republicans as trying to get rid of those they see as ‘useless eaters.’ Another parallel.
The PBS NewsHour last night (05/19/22) had a segment pertaining to the baby formula issue. It appears that there are only 4 companies in the U.S. producing 90 percent of the formula. Here, again, as in the case of oil, the consumer suffers when corporate monopolies rig the market. The investigation is still underway as to why the FDA did not respond earlier to a whistleblower complaint regarding the Abbott plant where contamination is suspected as leading to the death of several babies, We need rigorous enforcement of our anti-trust laws. The Republicans are always crowing about the "free enterprise" system. Let them prove it. President Biden has stepped up to the plate and is using the Defense Production Act to solve the problem.
Hypocrisy that it's the governments problem to fix the free market according to conservatives today. Or when convenient for them. They also don't like government agencies to oversee business like the EPA or FDA but of course now they do. Because they can blame Biden for political convenience. What matters is what works not political or economic philosophy.
Agree. They are the definition of being 2-faced. the now-you-see it, now-you-don't crowd. This crowd cannot be trusted to govern.
I find the timing of the baby formula crisis alarming. In my lifetime, there has never been this. Why now? Sure, feeds into a 'whip up fear' in the populace moment. When elections come, the autocrats will use this as election fear-propaganda. "Now -- we have to worry about feeding our babies!! This has never happened before". Something with the timing of the FDA is 'off' on this. It discredits the institution of the FDA,(a medical agency/ institution of our democracy) -- also during the time of a pandemic. These autocrats are strategically evil. Our God is not a fool.
Abbott connived during the previous administration to block China from developing formula from Canadian skim milk.