tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post7912055309571463837..comments2024-03-28T19:18:40.387-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: At Each Other's ThroatsOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-69778008057207395762019-05-27T10:22:02.248-04:002019-05-27T10:22:02.248-04:00The obvious hypocrisy involved in all of this shou...The obvious hypocrisy involved in all of this should be obvious, thwap. Apparently, we no longer care about hypocrisy. I apologize for getting to your comment so late. Sometimes comments don't get to my email address, and I only get to them when I check the comments section in my blog. However, I do appreciate hearing from you.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-22630603787117899112019-05-24T20:34:06.789-04:002019-05-24T20:34:06.789-04:00Owen,
You just have to think of your average Toro...Owen,<br /><br />You just have to think of your average Toronto Sun reader. (Or an Ezra Levant fan.) By this point, all but the more blinkered think public health insurance is a good thing. They just imagine that OTHER people (immigrants/drug addicts/crooked doctors/transgendered people/frauds, etc.,) are responsible for the "high costs." They imagine the system is breaking down because of OTHER people's fraud, and not because of deliberate under-funding by neo-liberal scum bags.<br /><br />They believe there should be a safety net, for people like them. Anyone outside their "charmed" circle should fend for themselves. Hence rancid behaviour like Harper cancelling health care for refugee claimants.<br /><br />It's kinda like the way that Rob Ford could sincerely believe he had "zero tolerance for drugs and gangs" and then be the only mayor of a big Canadian city to smoke crack with gangsters. And his fan base forgave him.<br /><br />But back to the original point about "extremists on both sides" tearing apart from the middle: What is the "center" in US politics? "Moderate Republicans" (like Jeb Bush???) and "Centrist Democrats." And what are they about? Endless wars to pad the profits of the Military Industrial Complex/Servicing Wall Street over Main Street/Slavish devotion to Israel/and allowing US-Americans to die to protect the profits of the health insurance industry.<br /><br />No wonder everybody is fed-up with them.thwaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15399550285738440669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-61847733428545291972019-05-24T11:23:08.697-04:002019-05-24T11:23:08.697-04:00That's a really interesting statement, thwap: ...That's a really interesting statement, thwap: Fascism is the stupid person's socialism. After all, Hitler called his movement National Socialism.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-20427752939188951522019-05-24T04:22:25.322-04:002019-05-24T04:22:25.322-04:00Yes and No.
No: Extremists are pulling society ap...Yes and No.<br /><br />No: Extremists are pulling society apart. It is the failure of centrism. It is the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of liberalism (Clintonite Democrats, the Liberal Party of Canada, the Thomas Friedman's of the world.) They have imposed a set of policies upon us that have impoverished the many to reward the few. They have done this in tandem with the sorts of "conservatives" that Trump defeated and that Stephen Harper and his ilk have replaced here in Canada.<br /><br />No: In my case, in recent memory, I acquiesced to a set of facts about gun violence in other countries provided by a pro-gun person; I conceded to some "woke" male leftists about Julian Assange when provided with some other facts. I told them "You are right and I was wrong."<br />I have condemned the NDP when it betrays me; I've voted Liberal to stop a right-wing candidate; I criticize anarchists and other far-leftists when I disagree with them; etc., etc., <br /><br />YES: People are far less rational than they believe they are. They invent rationalizations after the fact and cannot quickly (if ever) process facts that conflict with their delusions.<br /><br />Yes: People are becoming more isolated, divided into hostile camps. But the internet has created a space where debates can be had (and archived) for decades now. And reading back we can see that the pro-war/pro-bigotry/pro-patriarchy/pro-capitalism etc., team has been wrong again and again and again. Over and over and over. Climate Change denialism, moronic conspiracy theories, etc., ... WMDs, chemical weapon attacks, ...<br /><br />These differences were papered-over with prosperity up until the 1980s. As things eroded under neo-liberalism, society diverged. The stupid people went (as they always do) with fascism.<br /><br />Fascism is the stupid person's socialism.thwaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15399550285738440669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-82717263622034865152019-05-23T16:48:01.680-04:002019-05-23T16:48:01.680-04:00Thinking is hard work, Cap. As long as we are will...Thinking is hard work, Cap. As long as we are willing to take short cuts to thinking -- be it intuition or ceding thought to social media -- we'll be up the creek.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-56403956697454241312019-05-23T15:56:40.075-04:002019-05-23T15:56:40.075-04:00We could start with a proper diagnosis, and this a...We could start with a proper diagnosis, and this ain't it: "That national coherence is now fraying in light of more extremist tendencies weighing heavily on our traditional parties."<br /><br />Only one of our traditional parties is showing extremist tendencies, and it's time to stop inventing false equivalences in an effort to seem even-handed. Extremists count on people conceding to their demands in the name of being "reasonable." That's how we got ourselves into this mess. <br /><br />Haidt is right though that logical arguments don't work on someone conditioned to cut off their nose to spite their face. Finding common ground may help, but that takes more time than most people are willing to invest. Pulling the plug on the social media giants running a mass psychological conditioning experiment is the only short-cut I can think of.<br /><br />Cap<br /><br />CapAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-88690604029005001722019-05-23T15:21:35.195-04:002019-05-23T15:21:35.195-04:00Misplaced loyalty can be utterly destructive, sal....Misplaced loyalty can be utterly destructive, sal. There's a lot of that going around these days.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-4430862158383890992019-05-23T14:10:53.013-04:002019-05-23T14:10:53.013-04:00.. loyalties .. whow .. back the reins
the wagon m..... loyalties .. whow .. back the reins<br />the wagon master whether 15 or 60<br />cannot rein in a team of Clyde's ..<br />I tried - once - failed..<br />was admonished by a kindly elder Mennonite<br />for letting his horses get lathered, blown, needlessly<br />The message stuck with me.. 'have a care' ..<br />and that's just where we are ..<br />and do we even care .. to care.. ?<br /><br />Loyalties are sacrosanct.. <br />but also desire require calm appraisal ..<br />measure ...<br /><br />In a lifetime.. I recall with amazement<br />every single of those who met the measure<br />& duly noted those who deserve nada - nothing<br />the salamanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853337802990122289noreply@blogger.com