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Billy_TParticipantAnother coupla takes from the video:
And I know you guys know this: Summers is right-wing. He’s a neoliberal economists, and when Obama hired him, that was one of the first signs that Obama wouldn’t be the progressive hero some thought he might be during his campaign. Our media are so skewed to the right, Summers is supposed to be some card-carrying lefty, which is why Wallace used him, etc.
. . .
What do you guys think of this strategy, which I’ve mentioned before, and never see anyone do in public: When media try to demonize “democratic socialism,” I think Sanders and others should push back list some key socialists: MLK, Gandhi, Einstein, Orwell, Camus, Helen Keller, Dorothy Day, Upton Sinclair, the Dalai Lama and Bertrand Russell, for starters. Orwell, in fact, prefaced his Animal Farm with his advocacy of “democratic socialism” (which the CIA initially removed/censored).
To me, it’s logical, if folks see socialists as scary, to mention great humanitarians, civil rights leaders, philosophers, scientists, etc. etc. who were/are socialists.
Thoughts?
Billy_TParticipantThat was actually, I think, the best Sanders has ever been on TV. Though he was surprisingly really good at, of all places, Liberty University too. He won over some of those young evangelicals that day.
Good to see him go on Fox and say what he said, especially about the climate. Though he could easily have added that scientists are also telling us if we don’t do something mega-radical, aside from the earth becoming basically uninhabitable for most life, it’s gonna cost us trillions (for those concerned with monetary costs). Literally trillions in losses. He hinted at the cost, but he should be explicit. As in, nothing he proposes comes anywhere near the cost of doing nothing, or a little bit, or even a moderate bit. The cost alone will crush us . . .
Also, Sanders is usually really good with his fact-numbers, but he low-balled fossil fuels tax breaks and subsidies. It’s actually not “tens of billions.” It, too, is in the trillions worldwide.
But, yeah. He was excellent, and he’s currently leading the field for the nomination, according to the latest polling.
Billy_TParticipantAlso…I will say…W has a point about the difficulty of getting Sanders over the finish line. The DNC will align against him. They already have. And they aren’t going to grudgingly support him, or even stay neutral if he somehow manages to win the nomination outright.
They will try to “McGovern” him. Sanders is a bigger threat to the Clinton/DNC money machine than Donald Trump is, and if Sanders loses, they will take a short term hit, but be able to wag their fingers at the left for the next 20 years. I fully expect that.
The only question is whether Sanders can overcome the complete opposition of the system, including the entire MSM, and win anyway. Well…Trump did. So… we will see (if he wins the nomination, that is).
I agree with most of that, Zooey.
The Dems have a tradition, as you know, of eating their own when it suits them. I have no idea how far back that goes, but Walter Karp, in his classic Liberty Under Siege, talks about how the Dem powers that be sided with Reagan against Carter, if memory serves. Don’t know if anyone’s updated that since 1988, or further back in time than the 1970s . . . but I’m guessing that’s the pattern.
The GOP, OTOH, seems to rally around their nominee, even if they openly trashed him during the primaries.
Just a minor quibble. IMO, the establishment was fine with Trump. They knew he was going to slash their taxes, binge-deregulate and privatize, double down on fossil fuels, and give them the judges they wanted. Early on, he basically telegraphed that he’d turn the nuts and bolts over to his VP and the Heritage Foundation, so they were more than kewl with that. He was actually a dream come true for most of them, except for his potential as a loose cannon, etc. Clinton would have been “safer” for them, but she wouldn’t have been nearly as generous.
Trump was high risk and high reward. HRC was basically no risk but middling reward. I think the Power Elite preferred the former, and still does.
Billy_TParticipantIt’s been awhile since I’ve posted on this site. And it will be awhile until I post again. But in reading these comments about Trump, the Dems, and the upcoming election, I can only think of one thing: Nikita Khrushchev may have been right. The socialists will bury us. Trump may just be holding off the inevitable for awhile.
Hey, New Mexico,
Hope all is well.
First off, Kruschev’s comment was mistranslated and taken out of context. He basically said, “We will outlast you.” It wasn’t a threat. It was just a restatement of a belief that capitalism’s internal contradictions would mean it destroys itself over time.
Also, he didn’t speak for “socialists,” most of whom were against the Soviet Union from the start. The USSR was never, ever “socialist” to begin with.
A really excellent recent history of the revolution shows this: October, by China Mieville.
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2731-october
If America ever becomes socialist, it will be a blessing to everyone, including your kids and their kids. It would mean the vision of socialists like MLK, Gandhi, Einstein, Orwell, Camus, the Dalai Lama, Helen Keller, Dorothy Day, Upton Sinclair and Bertrand Russell had finally come to pass. A more recent representation of that vision is Martin Hagglund’s beautiful and profound This Life.
It’s also the only way we save this planet. If we stay with capitalism, we’re doomed. And that’s not hyperbole.
Take care.
Billy_TParticipant… But in reading these comments about Trump, the Dems, and the upcoming election, I can only think of one thing: Nikita Khrushchev may have been right. The socialists will bury us….
=======================
If ONLY.
That would be a dream come true for me. 🙂
Mega-Global-Gangster-Corporate-Capitalism is destroying the entire Bio-Sphere….and you are worried about…what?….a National Health Care system that would allow poor people to get the same health wealthy people get?
w
vAgree with all of that, WV. I don’t get it either. Why the anger and freakout over the possibility that everyone can get health care, and public universities no longer crush students with six-figure debt?
Oh, the horror!!
We’re the richest nation on earth, and we can’t make sure every America can pursue their dreams? We can’t make sure everyone has an equal shot at higher ed and health care? Three Americans now hold as much wealth as the bottom half of this country combined — Sanders said tonight — and that is why we can’t do what any sane nation would do. That’s the reason. You can’t have that kind of obscene inequality and expect a decent society as well. We need to choose.
. . . .
ZN,
Can you check the spam que again? I posted earlier and made the mistake of adding two links to books. Great books. But, apparently the mayor of spam city hates them.
;>)
Billy_TParticipantThe fear of Sanders is tragic to me, on so many levels. But what strikes me the most, perhaps, is how telling this fear is, basically as a marker for the enormity of capitalism’s triumph and America’s decline.
Sanders’ policies would be seen as “moderate” in the 1960s, or in most of Europe today. He’s asking for a small increase in taxation that would still mean the super-rich pay far less than they did when Ike was prez. From FDR thru Kennedy, the top rate was 91% or higher, and the effective rate was roughly 55%. Sanders isn’t even suggesting 70%, last time I checked, and that was the marginal rate from Johnson thru Carter.
Capitalist propaganda has so thoroughly gaslit Americans, too many see Sanders — a moderate social democrat — as some kind of revolutionary. Again, his policies would be run of the mill even in America a few decades ago, and line up closely to the center of social democratic policies in Europe now.
IMO, Sanders doesn’t go nearly far enough to the left on anything. We need much, much stronger medicine. But, given the situation, he’s a breath of fresh air in a nation with the most reactionary government in the developed world, and he’d at least strive to bring social democratic reforms to the fore here.
Ironically, in a historical sense, Sanders is the “centrist” candidate. The rest of the Dem field is “right-wing,” and Trump and the GOP are ultra-right-wing.
I hope he wins it all, but even if he does, it’s just one of those “first steps.” We’re so far down the neoliberal rabbit hole, it’s only Step One.
Billy_TParticipantDidn’t watch the speech, but read some of the fact-checking. As usual, Trump lied his ass off.
He’s done so more than 16,000 times now, just since taking office.
(Again, as mentioned before, these lies are documented lies of commission. He tells the same lies of omission as past presidents too.)
One fact-checker’s report on the SOTU speech:
Trump keeps saying this is the greatest economy ever, and it’s not even close to those from the 50s and 60s, or Clinton’s. In fact, on most metrics, Trump’s economy isn’t even as good as Obama’s over the same period of time. Obama had a higher per-month job-gain record, higher wages, and a higher workforce participation increase to tout. GDP for last year was 2.3%. Again, that’s far, far from our best.
Of course, two major factors all presidents seem to leave out when they talk about GDP:
1. Distribution of those gains
2. Impact on the environment/climate changeAnd the first one has a significant 1A: Those at the bottom have so little, make so little, that even if they do see solid gains, they’re still lagging waaay behind. Math and percentages are a beach, as the kids used to say.
All of the above will be ignored by his base, and, unfortunately, but most Americans, including “swing” voters. They also should consider all the help Trump has had along the way, protected as he has been by the GOP like a mob boss under siege — but successfully.
Trump won largely by lying about migrants and the economy. And he may win again with basically the same tactic. The earth won’t survive four more years of his policies.
Billy_TParticipantWell if Bernie wins a primary or two, its gonna get Super-Ugly.
Did you see the Chris Matthews (gag me) vid in another thread. zn posted it. Matthews almost looks like he’s going to cry. He talked about the Nixon vs McGovern thing. I think a LOT of ‘centrist dems’ are just pro-corporate-capitalists. But some of them ‘centrists’ are somethin a bit different. Some of em just dont think a progressive can win. They think of themselves as ‘pragmatists’ or ‘realists.’ A LOT of them were forever scarred by the McGovern thing, i think. Maybe. In a way it makes perfect sense — the American people usually DONT vote for progressive folks. They…just…dont. Usually.
w
vMissed the vid. Yeah, Matthews is cringe-worthy most of the time, and he either thinks of himself — or fakes this — as an “everyman,” in touch with real America. Not to the extent Republicans tend to think they have this down, or fake it . . . but he’s kinda like the centrist Dem version of that.
I still think the pundits are missing the obvious, when they say this or that candidate’s losing “proves” folks on the left can’t win. Americans vote on personality, its presence or absence. Same thing goes for charisma, connection, etc. etc. They really don’t care about policy. If they did, the vast majority would never vote GOP. Not that the Dems have great policies either. But they’re consistently better. Or, perhaps I should say, less rotten. They just tend to run wooden, personality-challenged candidates, all too often.
McGovern didn’t exactly light up a room, though his policy ideas — and, if memory serves, his stance on Vietnam — were waaay better than Nixon’s.
Anyway . . . in my more cynical moods, I kinda doubt Sanders will be allowed to win. The Power Elite will do something to stop that. Or, if they screw that up, and he actually wins the White House, they’ll handcuff him so he can’t do the stuff that needs to be done.
To make the changes that need to be made is going to take far more than one person’s win. Though it’s a start. I’ve been day-dreaming about his appointments, too. Like, well, Naomi Klein at the EPA and AOC running the Interior department. Bring in Marxian economists to run Treasury and the Economic council, etc. etc. Make right-wing heads explode all over the place!!
;>)
Billy_TParticipantHe’s running a strong campaign, and may well take the first three primaries.
I noticed a recent shift in Dem propaganda via the MSM. It seemed that, for a wee bit of time, they were trying to play nice with Bernie. But now that he looks like he may actually win the nom, they’re freaking out and openly saying Dems are freaking out.
One of those ex-Republican talking heads (on MSNBC) said today that Americans would rather vote for a sociopath (Trump) than a socialist. I just wish someone would speak up for the socialist tradition, for once, in public, cuz it’s not hard at all to shred that nonsense.
Please, someone just let the audience know that MLK, Gandhi, Einstein, Orwell, Camus, the Dalai Lama, Dorothy Day, Helen Keller, Emma Lazarus, Kafka and Bertrand Russell (just for starters) . . . were all lifelong socialists. Follow up the tellin’ by asking the audience, “Wouldn’t you vote for them over Trump?” And, “Do these great men and women scare you?”
Billy_TParticipantZN,
I understand your reaction to the guy on the vid. It’s tough for me to wade through that nonsense too. Bragging about a system that gained its dominance primarily via slavery, colonial exploitation and genocide (and is killing the planet) . . . well, yeah. Cosmic fingernails on cosmic blackboards is apt.
And thanks for taking the post out of the dog-house. It was pretty lonesome there, except for the occasional dove.
Billy_TParticipantMy post disappeared when I added a link to Jason Hickel’s name. Not sure if it will come back — the post or the link. Will redo it later tonight if it doesn’t. The world needs to read my deathless prose, so this is truly vital.
;>)
Hope all is well, everyone.
Billy_TParticipantHey, WV,
Hope all is well.
How old is this video?
Oxfam’s 2019 study, which talked about 2018, dropped the number down to 26 people, total.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth
Here’s a wild statistic: The 26 richest people on earth in 2018 had the same net worth as the poorest half of the world’s population, some 3.8 billion people.
I’ve seen other studies that put the number between 3 and 8 people, total. I think Bernie uses those.
Also, as mentioned before, Jason Hickel demonstrates that it’s bullshit when anyone says “capitalism has radically reduced poverty,” blah blah blah. It’s radically increased it. The folks who control the world just keep setting the cut-off point for poverty lower and lower, relative to actual expenses, which continue to grow.
Hickel says the minimal minimum of all minimums should be at least $5 a day, not $1 or $2. The latter reflects complete and utter destitution, not “poverty.” With $5 a day, the poverty rates keeps rising, year on year.
And, of course, capitalism is “zero-sum,” by definition. Because if someone has X amount of dollars, other people can’t have that X amount at the same time. Last time I checked, we don’t have a quantum economy just yet.
If Gates hoards 100 billion, it can’t possibly be in his bank account and in ours at the same time. If he “owns” those dollars, we don’t. By definition. It’s math. It’s zero-sum.
Billy_TParticipantI hope the Rams can trade Havenstein, and then do everything in their power to get Thuney.
Draft D- and O-line early and often.
I wouldn’t re-sign Whit. Let him go. For his own good, I hope he retires. But it would help the Rams — I think — if he signs with another team. Potential for an comp then, right?
Re-sign Blythe. Keep him at center. Try to find an upgrade via FA, and draft one there, too.
It’s almost impossible to find players who are really good at both run and pass blocking later in the draft. They go early. So the Rams are at a big disadvantage in a year they desperately need that kind of athlete. They’re gonna have to hit big in FA and find late round gems.
The trenches should be priorities, it’s safe to say. Hope the sophomores develop too.
Billy_TParticipantTrump’s advisers have maintained that they were operating on credible intelligence showing that Soleimani was involved in imminent plans to attack U.S. interests in a handful of countries. They have not detailed that intelligence, and Democratic lawmakers, among others, have raised questions about its veracity.
Even if it were true, why would killing Soleimani prevent or mitigate these alleged attacks?
…
That’s what struck me too. If there really was some kind of imminent attack planned, assassinating a general won’t stop it. If anything, it will make the attack far more likely, and perhaps expand its range.
Aside from the moral/ethical component, it flat our seems stupid and pointless, strategically.
Billy_TParticipantGood article.
I’ve been in an apolitical mood of late, probably due to reading about Climate Change and feeling kinda bleak about things . . . but decided to turn on the TV news yesterday for the first time in a bit. Saw that Iran had retaliated against the assassination and the bleak mood sunk lower. Was surprised that MSNBC and CNN both seemed to be, at least in general, calling for deescalation. I may have missed it, but I didn’t see anyone beating the war drums, for a change.
A hopeful development. This needs to be the norm.
This morning, I tuned in briefly to Morning Joe and was again pleasantly surprised by the panel’s call for deescalation, and the host’s comparison of Suleimani to Ike, after an historian suggested this. Scarborough’
s original comparison had been Marshall. As in, how Iranians viewed him, and why this matters. Ironically, I had made a similar point to family last night, but wasn’t able to convince.I picked the wrong hour to stop drinking.
Billy_TParticipantGood video, but I think she downplays the executive orders and GOP-passed legislation to radically gut environmental protections. That, to me, will be Trump’s most toxic legacy — that he sped up the timetable for Climate Doom. His administration has literally increased the likely death toll by millions, at least.
Trump and the GOP have rolled back dozens and dozens of protections, and even before Trump, we had far too few.
As for who wins the race. If Trump does win again, he’ll get four more years to ruin the environment, add hundreds more hard-right, corporatist judges, and project mass cruelty onto the backs of the poor, especially migrants. It will also tell us something about the schizophrenic nature of the American electorate.
Case in point: poll after poll says than a majority of Americans wants Trump impeached and removed from office. I would have said, prior to Trump, that any president with that kind of head-wind couldn’t possibly win reelection. Just. Not. Possible. But we live in the craziest of times, perhaps fit only for a chant like this:
Billy_TParticipantInteresting that they mention trading Ramsey.
I’d approve of that, if they could get at least one of their Number Ones back — or an excellent (All-Pro), young O-lineman or Edge of equal status. I don’t see any team giving them the deal that the Rams gave the Jags. Despite him being special, border-line great, it was too much, IMO. Two Firsts and a Fourth?
Admittedly, that opinion is colored by who the Rams have right now, if Ramsey goes. It’s also impacted by how well Hill and Williams played, which surprised me, plus Long’s potential. I’d likely say you have to hold on to him, if those three weren’t who they are, etc.
But I’m betting they don’t trade him. The next biggest decision is likely Littleton or Fowler. I wish they could keep both, but unless I’m wrong about the Cap, they can’t.
January 1, 2020 at 2:22 pm in reply to: Must-read book: The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells #109993Billy_TParticipantThanks for the video, WV.
He’s a good writer. Clear, accessible, has command of the facts, and is intelligent throughout. Probably the most comprehensive single look at climate change out there at the moment.
(I’ve got McKibbons latest book waiting for me at the local library)
Surprising that near the end of the book he also introduces some rather idiosyncratic thinkers on the subject, and includes an anarchist, James Scott. He sounds like someone I need to read:
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691161037/two-cheers-for-anarchism
Scott has written about Climate Change as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Grain:_A_Deep_History_of_the_Earliest_States
Billy_TParticipantThat last comment goes to this idea:
“I can’t get worked up about X because he/she/they did some horrible shit.”
Trump’s environmental policies alone will cause the additional deaths of tens of millions of human beings.
Throw in his treatment of refugees — many of whom are victims of US environmental and corporate protection policies — and it becomes even clearer.
The list goes on and on and on, when it comes to Trump’s beyond-ugly/toxic impact on the world, from a personal and (especially) public policy POV.
Why anyone wastes a nanosecond trying to defend him is just freakin’ baffling to me.
Billy_TParticipantWhat, if anything, do you blame McVay for this year? Anything? Did he do anything wrong ?
w
vwell. a lot of the problems on offense came down to the oline. i think we can all agree on that. and as a result of that goff had some growing pains this year. so how much could mcvay really do? and on top of that gurley wasn’t gurley anymore.
i’m just surprised that mcvay took this long to get higbee going. if gurley is saying that the players could see it in practice, then why not go to him earlier in the season?
i think sometimes mcvay is slow to adjust to what’s happening. maybe as he gets more experience he’s quicker to make those changes. sometimes it’s easier to do what’s more comfortable to you.
My pet peeve is that he was incredibly stubborn when it came to his eleven personnel packages. He opened that up slightly in the last few games . . . but I think the stubbornness may well have kept them out of the playoffs. They needed just one more win, remember, cuz the Vikings ended up losing their last two . . . ironically, etc.
I’d go further, of course. I think the Rams need to use six offensive linemen at times . . . and find the right DT to use as a fullback/ball carrier option. Mix things up more.
McVay is young, obviously. Which means his great press must have impacted his thinking, at least a bit. I have a feeling he was humbled by this past season, and will be more open to changing things up in 2020.
Billy_TParticipantMaybe, but McVay seems to place an emphasis on speed. The Rams spent a lot to get Cooks and they wasted no time at all locking up Gurley who used to be special because of his size and speed. When Gurley’s knee became an issue, they used their second pick last year on Henderson, a small but fast rb.
If Cooks is healthy, I don’t think McVay takes him off the field. We’ll see.
I’m very curious to see what the Rams do with this off season.
Do they bring back Whit or trust Noteboom at LT?
Fowler or Littleton or neither?
How do they continue to improve the OL?
How do they improve the depth at DL?I’m not a Cooks fan overall, primarily because he’s just not a threat to win contested footballs. Though he did shock me with one this past game. And while he’s very, very fast, the college ranks always have their share of fast receivers. I just don’t see him worth the draft pick and the high salary, and wish Watkins had worked out.
NE basically got their draft pick back when they traded him to the Rams. Right now, I don’t think the Rams would get anything close to that, and I think they should trade him if they can. Not sure what their minimum should be, but there’s a point where he’s worth more to keep than trade if it’s not enough. If they could get a 2nd or a 3rd, I’d do it. Perhaps a 4th and later is too little and they should just hang on to him. Find a way to get him isolated more, in the open field, etc. etc.
Billy_TParticipantTom Brady worked hard to improve his physical profile. He did the right things in the weight-room and film-study to make himself a better athlete.
When he came out of college, and went through the combine process, he looked like one of the worst athletes in the QB ranks. Relatively slow, weak, awkward. But he likely always had a killer instinct and high football IQ. He worked on the rest.
Goof, IMO, needs to work at least as hard on his inner athlete. Weight-training, diet, film-study, track work . . . the whole enchilada. But, especially, his throwing mechanics, which are abysmal. He needs to get with a guru and radically improve his throwing motion, make it far more compact, quicker, and utilize the newly acquired strength he’ll be gaining, etc.
He’ll be just 25 next season. He can grow his football IQ even more. But if he does nothing about his relatively poor athleticism . . . I don’t think he’ll ever be a top-tier QB . . . and he was drafted first, so he should be.
Billy_TParticipantI liked the Higbee pick from Day One, and thought he was underused. IMO, it comes down to that. He just wasn’t thrown to. Lack of targets. A receiver is nada if the GQ doesn’t bother to throw to him.
(I think they basically ruined Brian Quick for similar reasons)
He’s big, fast for his size, has good hands, and is a try-hard runner after the catch. He’s also an excellent blocker. What’s not to love?
IMNSHO, they should try to trade Everett, not Higbee. If they get a third or a fourth for him, I’d be happy. A second? Ecstatic.
I think they can find another H-back kinda TE with a bit better size and speed. Everett is a tad under 6’3″ and probably 240 or so. They can find better matchup guys in FA and the draft. I’d use the draft pick on O-line help or a run-stuffing DT, though.
Billy_TParticipantThe priorities sword cuts both ways.
The “I can’t get worked up about Russian interference in our election, cuz we did it too” sword works both ways.
I have no idea why Kucinich would give a shit how the rabid dog, Islamophobe, would-be kidnapper nutcase Flynn was treated by his own community . . . nor can I comprehend anyone caring how Trump was treated by some in the Intel communities he controls.
It’s never made any sense to me, though I think I get the basic fallacy in place:
US “deep state” bad; anyone it’s after must be good
US “deep state” is after the president; the president must be in the right
US “deep state” is after some of his henchmen; those henchmen must be in the right.
US “deep state” is bad; it can never do anything for legitimate, justifiable reasons, or target actual guilty parties.Of course, the concept of the “deep state” is already deeply flawed, but that’s another story. The main fallacy here is to posit a good versus bad dynamic, regardless, when it’s far more likely that it’s a rational, justified investigation . . . or, at the very least, a “bad versus bad” and never, ever necessary for “bad guys” to fight only “good guys.”
To make a long story short, I think Kucinich has lost his mind on this one.
And after reading The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells — I started a thread on it but haven’t seen it appear yet — I think it’s safe to call Trump a mass murderer on environmental issues alone.
His policies will literally add tens of millions of humans to the death tolls in the coming years. That’s. Not. Hyperbole.
Billy_TParticipantOn his way to class, a leftist English teacher is stopped by another English teacher, a bright guy who is not a leftist.
Not Leftist (with wild, excited eyes): Hey! Are you teaching The Things They Carried (an excellent Vietnam book) this term?
Leftist: Yeah. Finishing it up right now.
Not Leftist (eagerly): Did you hear about the whole thing that was running in the Washington Post?
Leftist (something about the book? About O’Brien? About Vietnam?): Uh…?
Not Leftist (bursting at the seams): Afghanistan! They’ve been lying about it for 18 years! They’ve been covering up that we’re not getting anywhere.
Leftist: Um….
Not Leftist (Touchdown!): Like Vietnam!
Leftist (who finally sees what we’re doing here, and is staggered by the fact that the fairly bright Not Leftist has just learned that Afghanistan is a quagmire): Um…yeah, I read some of that…(but stopped because there was not one goddamn thing in the article that was news)…amazing.
Not Leftist: Just going in circles pointlessly, like The Things They Carried.
Leftist: Yeah. Cool. Thanks. Good connection. Gotta go. (shuffles off to job that is feels close to pointless some days).
Haven’t read that book or anything else by O’Brien. Is it worth a read? One of your characters above says so, enthusiastically.
Billy_TParticipantAlso,
If memory serves, you teach literature and theater, so you’d likely already know these authors, and probably going way back in your life.
But just in case . . . Fernando Pessoa and Jose Saramago are two extraordinary Portuguese authors. My memory fails me on others I may have read in the past. I’ve read some great Brazilian writers too . . . Machado de Assis, Clarice Lispector, Rachel de Queiroz and Gracilianos Ramos. Lispector is like no one else. I’ve only read her and the other authors in translation, so I’m likely missing a ton, especially with Lispector. Her novels and short stories are said to be almost untranslatable. Mood is everything, the music of her sentences, the surreality of her settings.
Question: I remember you used to live in Thailand, and perhaps other parts of Asia? Can you recommend some great Thai authors?
Billy_TParticipantYeah, so…you’re right about it not mattering where we live in the sense that we can’t escape to a better place geographically. Escaping is mental or spiritual. It’s a state of mind.
But I just think that state of mind is easier when the mind is occupied by other things. If I move to Portugal, or Mallorca, or go back to Thailand, FOX News won’t be on the TV in the lobby. The cars on the street are not gonna have bumper stickers celebrating gun violence. People will not be wearing Trump baseball caps. No confederate flag license plate frames.
Plus…there will be that quaint village with a view of the Mediterranean where I can drink espresso and think about Dido and Aeneas.
Maybe I will go for just a few years. Enough time to regain some youth. And maybe I will come back to find out that Ilhan Omar is president, and there are only 3,500 homeless people nationwide, and Flint has potable water, and Matt Gaetz is working as a security guard at a cineplex.
Zooey, again, I get all of that and agree with you. My posts were more of an internal argument than any comment on your plans to be an expat.
And Portugal sounds great. I haven’t been, but my mom and stepdad went there as often as they could when they lived in Holland. My mother, especially, loved it. It’s also, from what I hear, affordable for expats, depending on where you settle.
It’s on my list along with Spain, the south of France, and Ireland, perhaps.
For me, along with all the things you mentioned you’d be escaping here, there’s a tremendous additioncultural markers than we just don’t have. The art, architecture, history, castles, ancient ruins, etc. etc. . . . and this still holds in most of Europe: They work to live. We live to work. I think our view of life is beyond inferior.
Regardless, best of luck with your plans. If a miracle happens for me and I can gather the funds, I’m moving overseas too.
Billy_TParticipantGood questions, Comrad. I can only say, for ‘me’ its just that I cant stand ordinary-amerikans anymore.
w
vThat’s the thing. I will never be able to look at many people in my life the way i used to, ever again, as long as I live. I did not realize how deep the rot still goes in this country. Of course, I knew there are racists, and systemic racism, and so on. But I am stunned by just how many people there are who are willing to sacrifice the planet, sacrifice Life On Earth, just as long as they are assured that brown people, and gay people, and so on, will suffer MORE than they do.
And I know that other countries all have their racists, too. It’s not unique to America. But when I am living in another country, I just don’t feel responsible for that country’s zeitgeist. In America, I feel responsible somehow. And I just can’t take it.
You know…living overseas is nothing to be afraid of. There is a short adjustment period, but it’s not as hard or scary as people think it is.
Again, I would have moved overseas long ago if I had the finances for it.
Agree about the racism and other bigotries surrounding us. But I think we have another major problem here on top of that: Americans can’t even agree about the basics anymore. We can’t even agree about a sun shiny day being sun shiny, etc.
I don’t remember it ever being this bad before. Truth has been colonized, tribalized, politicized to a degree I just don’t think we’ve ever seen here, at least not in my lifetime. It’s straight out of 1984, where the triumph of Big Brother and their ideology isn’t just to get people to accept the system, or agree with it in order to survive, but to actually totally embrace it and love it, love the lies, the disinformation, the cruelty involved with the entire setup.
All too many people aren’t just saying, “Well, it is what it is. We just have to make the best of it.” They’re saying “I’m all in on this, with every fiber of my being, and what they say is the gospel truth!!”
The gaslighting has never been more effective. When the world’s most powerful nation is one of the most reactionary nations in the world, and it’s headed by a cult leader, and his cult is all in . . . that’s some seriously bad mojo, as they used to say in the 1960s.
Billy_TParticipant…Is the main rationale for leaving the belief in how much horrible shit we’ve done to the rest of the world, and to ourselves?
Or is it to find a better place to be, in and of itself?
If it’s the latter…=====================
Good questions, Comrad. I can only say, for ‘me’ its just that I cant stand ordinary-amerikans anymore. Its like being surrounded by Frankensteins. They didnt ask to be turned into dangerous-idiots but thats what they are. Blah blah blah.
I just prefer the company of trees, birds, ferns, and tapirs at this point in my life.
Who knows though. Maybe humanity will surprise me, the way the 99 Rams did.
I get caught in the spam filter from time to time now, btw. I blame the deep-spam-state.
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vI’m with you on pretty much all of that. But I draw the line at tapirs. No way can I include them in the mix. First off, I don’t know what a tapir even is. And to make my ignorance a virtue, I’ll have to be supremely confident about that sanction. So there!!
I agree about the Deep Spam State. We can trace that labyrinthine horror back to Monty Python, at least. I think they saw it all so clearly even before Chomsky.
Billy_TParticipantThe Ring of Kerry in Ireland might be the place. Or the south of France. Not sure. But, again, I need that castle. Maybe Jagger will sell me one of his.
Have you ever been to Ireland, BT? It’s the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen. My wife and I went there a few years ago, although our trip was cut short when our dog sitter called to tell us our dog was ill.
The Ring of Beara is less well known, and therefore less “touristy” than the Ring of Kerry and probably more beautiful. But if you like castles, Ireland will work for you. There’s old castles and abbeys everywhere.
My wife and I seriously considered moving to Canada (Nova Scotia or New Brunswick) after the last election. We started to look into it but then sorta ran out of steam.
Yes. I went to Ireland in 2003, and did a self-drive, starting in Dublin. September, so it wasn’t too touristy.
Loved pretty much every second of it, with rare exceptions. Rental car, wrong side of the auto, wrong side of the road, etc. But it gave me the kind of freedom I wanted there . . . Though I took advice from the Irish and got on a tour bus for the Ring of Kerry. Glad I did. It’s white-knuckle driving, with very narrow roads, etc. etc . . . and they told me the bus seats are high enough to be able to see over the endless stone fences. I would have missed a lot if I had driven meself, and I may have ended up in the sea.
Loved the Cliffs of Moher too. Breath-taking views. Same year I was told about the Big C, so being in a place I’ve loved from afar my entire life . . . . well, the emotions were swirling. And then to put me over the line, I’m walking up the path to the cliffs when I hear the voice of an angel and her harp, singing Irish songs as if to me alone.
And there were castles. Not as many as in France. But plenty of them regardless. Probably liked Lismore the most.
https://www.lismorecastle.com/photo-gallery
Was also surprised by how good the food was pretty much everywhere I went. And the people were as they’re known to be: friendly, helpful, quick with the story.
I hope to go back. Two weeks isn’t nearly enough time to see all of that beauty.
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