This should probably be three separate posts, for readability and clarity, but I’m a loser. Here are three semi-connected thoughts about the current dysfunction of the public sphere. Let’s do this scatterbrained thing. One: I can’t get this attack on Dr. Ryan Cole out of my head:
I've probably made this comment here before, but I just want to add to fortify Chris' argument, with my only qualification being that my wife is a writer in the NYC/LA Blue Bubble and we know many of the Blue Checkerati:
We are experiencing some sort of fundamentalist moral panic and the only image that comes to mind is a herd of deranged sheep rushing together in a mad rage off the same cliff. There will be no off-ramp or off-switch here, no Joseph Welch moment, no abating of the fervor at least till the Orange Man is dead or exiled to Mar-A-Elba.
The people who write our articles, academic studies, political platforms, as well as movies and TV shows, are simply convinced that they have acheived the One True Morality, that they are better than us because of 1) their academic and professional credentials; and 2) because of their kind pure hearts that bleed Tolerance and Representation, so in their minds there's simply no legitimate way anyone could disagree with them, they would have to be stupid or evil or a bigot (or some combo of the 3).
And so it's very simplified and simple-minded: lash yourself to the mast of the Daily Dogma (aka the Social Justice commandments which also somehow became adherence to Coronamania), never take a step mentally or rhetorically ahead of the pack, be a loyal tribalist first and foremost by displaying constant obedience and constant hatred of opponents and dissenters.
So, yes, a herd of fundamentalist moralists have seized control of the upper reaches of our society, esp our supposed intellectual and culture institutions. All of these spheres (which include academia, corporate media, and art and culture) are lost for at least a generation and will have to be ignored or worked around until they eventually collapse.
This is much simpler than we make it out to be. It's good vs. evil. And one tried & true tactic evil uses is to accuse good of doing the very thing that evil is doing at the present or intends to do in the future.
This is probably one of the best descriptions I've seen: "We don’t have two parties that compete; we have a court uniparty and a country opposition, two fragmented parties with increasingly irresolvable factional disputes. The stabilizing forces are gone."
I've often expressed - publicly, loudly, and to the chagrin of my dear loved ones - my belief that we'd be in a much better place if congress went back to regularly beating each other half to death with canes.
For the past 5-10 years, I've just assumed that every breaking news story in the MSM is a lie, or at the very best willfully misreported. So far I don't really think I've gone wrong with this policy.
I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio yesterday (I know, it is unlistenable, I lasted five minutes) about journalism regaining the respect of the people. The takeaway was, we have to be more positive and talk more about progress and the good things that people are doing. I felt like I heard the EXACT same program on NPR 25 years ago. Totally oblivious to their ceaseless misrepresentation of any truth, their pandering to race and gender postmodernism, or their pathological treatment of everything from Trump to Covid Policy. Hopeless.
BTW, what did you think about the Gascon thing, speaking of lawlessness of the elite and a total lack of accountability?
I honestly think a lot of the problems in this country/world are because most people have never been punched in the face before for saying or doing something stupid. Bring back those consequences and a lot of issues sort themselves out.
I deeply admire Dr. Ryan Cole. I saw him speak in person in Indianapolis December 2021 at a Global Covid Summit meeting. He is desperately trying to save lives. He will prevail.
This is an attack on our republic by globalist in all parties allied with Wall street and the silicone valley elites. Hollywood being their court jesters. They need the the two parties in constant conflict as a distraction. Most of us regardless party truly share the same values. Donald Trump, right or wrong, threatened to upend their great reset. It is time for Americans of all political persuasions to stop arguing with each other. Stop blaming the other side for all our problems. Stop listening to the globalist spin doctors. If not I fear for our country and the future for our children. Our free republic is under assault because it is the primary force that stands between the corrupt globalist’s new world order. This threat is much greater than traditional party politics. We must unite as a country and defeat the true evil before we wake up and no longer recognize or country.
This should be compulsory reading ! No-one has articulated our local and national situations as well as Chris Bray!! What the hell happened to reason, truth and civil discourse?? Thank you Chris!
Aug 19, 2022·edited Aug 19, 2022Liked by Chris Bray
Truth. As of this moment. But like the Berlin wall, change happens quickly when the people see a better way of life in their reach. It's up to us on Team Reality to make that vision appear in reach.
Another example is in energy, a field I know well working in the O&G business. Those pushing renewables at all costs will be proven wrong (catastrophically), and those of us trying to push back will continue to be ignored.
Aug 19, 2022·edited Aug 20, 2022Liked by Chris Bray
Pat Caddell said it before Trump, and he was right: The corrupt media are enemies of the state and will be the downfall of the US. Sadly, the MSM are worse now than when Caddell was still with us, and if he hadn't already passed, the state of "journalism" today would probably kill him: https://youtu.be/IBR4g6cBYeA?t=148
Let's begin at the end. You concluded, "Until collapse, which becomes inevitable..."
That collapse is well underway. We have thrown out our constitution, substituting rule by bureaucratic fiat for rule of law. And, adhering to the historically very successful "divide and conquer methodology, we have racialized pretty much everything! I fear we are in the process of doing away with meaningful elections. We have totally destroyed a formerly decent education system, and done away with affordable health care, (for many, if not most). We are in the process of emasculating our military, which only makes sense - as the enemy is now us. You and I. Which is no doubt why we have chosen to militarize so many government departments.
Local police forces, all over the world, are being replaced by well armed para militaries. The US has transferred tens of billions, that's Billions, with a "B", worth of military equipment to police forces in the last couple of decades. My cousin, who spent just under two decades as a policeman, was horrified that his department acquired military hardware including armored vehicles, armed helicopters, heavy weapons, and "way too many things that go bang". And, in his opinion, far, far too little training in, how, OR WHEN, to deploy all that firepower.
It probably makes sense for the IRS to create an army. Every totalitarian state in history has armed it's tax collectors. AND authorized them to employ lethal force. It may even make sense to arm and train the folks who patrol our National Parks. But what about the thousands of semi-trained armed “agents”, with stockpiles of millions of rounds of ammunition, who work for the departments of Education, and Interior, the US Postal Service, the EPA, and by far the most difficult to understand, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The folks who forecast the bloody weather!
But, as my grandfather often said, "this too will pass". There is a future. We don't know exactly how it will look, but there will be a future. Will our current lords and masters be in the driver's seat? Will "the West" still enjoy the highest standard of living the world has ever known? (Rueful chuckle - not very f'ing likely!) But there will be a future.
There is still hope for humanity. Maybe *not* for our current bureaucratic, over medicated, under educated, over sexualized, over credentialed, kleptocratic, mentally ill society - but humanity. People.
There is hope in rural America. And among the peasantry around the world. Country folk, people in rural communities remember the skills taught by our parents and grandparents. We tend our gardens, and put up our harvests in the fall. We kill and cure a hog or two every year. And stock our freezers with beef, or game.
We are not afraid to socialize, after church. We still teach our kids how to make things, and fix things, and to hunt and fish. And to tolerate the "not us".
Yes, there are tough times coming. Yes, many people are going to see a reduction in their standard of living. Many are experiencing them now! But the heartland is still strong. In the words of one of our modern-day poets, "Country folk will survive!"
I've probably made this comment here before, but I just want to add to fortify Chris' argument, with my only qualification being that my wife is a writer in the NYC/LA Blue Bubble and we know many of the Blue Checkerati:
We are experiencing some sort of fundamentalist moral panic and the only image that comes to mind is a herd of deranged sheep rushing together in a mad rage off the same cliff. There will be no off-ramp or off-switch here, no Joseph Welch moment, no abating of the fervor at least till the Orange Man is dead or exiled to Mar-A-Elba.
The people who write our articles, academic studies, political platforms, as well as movies and TV shows, are simply convinced that they have acheived the One True Morality, that they are better than us because of 1) their academic and professional credentials; and 2) because of their kind pure hearts that bleed Tolerance and Representation, so in their minds there's simply no legitimate way anyone could disagree with them, they would have to be stupid or evil or a bigot (or some combo of the 3).
And so it's very simplified and simple-minded: lash yourself to the mast of the Daily Dogma (aka the Social Justice commandments which also somehow became adherence to Coronamania), never take a step mentally or rhetorically ahead of the pack, be a loyal tribalist first and foremost by displaying constant obedience and constant hatred of opponents and dissenters.
So, yes, a herd of fundamentalist moralists have seized control of the upper reaches of our society, esp our supposed intellectual and culture institutions. All of these spheres (which include academia, corporate media, and art and culture) are lost for at least a generation and will have to be ignored or worked around until they eventually collapse.
This is much simpler than we make it out to be. It's good vs. evil. And one tried & true tactic evil uses is to accuse good of doing the very thing that evil is doing at the present or intends to do in the future.
This is probably one of the best descriptions I've seen: "We don’t have two parties that compete; we have a court uniparty and a country opposition, two fragmented parties with increasingly irresolvable factional disputes. The stabilizing forces are gone."
I've often expressed - publicly, loudly, and to the chagrin of my dear loved ones - my belief that we'd be in a much better place if congress went back to regularly beating each other half to death with canes.
For the past 5-10 years, I've just assumed that every breaking news story in the MSM is a lie, or at the very best willfully misreported. So far I don't really think I've gone wrong with this policy.
I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio yesterday (I know, it is unlistenable, I lasted five minutes) about journalism regaining the respect of the people. The takeaway was, we have to be more positive and talk more about progress and the good things that people are doing. I felt like I heard the EXACT same program on NPR 25 years ago. Totally oblivious to their ceaseless misrepresentation of any truth, their pandering to race and gender postmodernism, or their pathological treatment of everything from Trump to Covid Policy. Hopeless.
BTW, what did you think about the Gascon thing, speaking of lawlessness of the elite and a total lack of accountability?
I honestly think a lot of the problems in this country/world are because most people have never been punched in the face before for saying or doing something stupid. Bring back those consequences and a lot of issues sort themselves out.
I deeply admire Dr. Ryan Cole. I saw him speak in person in Indianapolis December 2021 at a Global Covid Summit meeting. He is desperately trying to save lives. He will prevail.
This is an attack on our republic by globalist in all parties allied with Wall street and the silicone valley elites. Hollywood being their court jesters. They need the the two parties in constant conflict as a distraction. Most of us regardless party truly share the same values. Donald Trump, right or wrong, threatened to upend their great reset. It is time for Americans of all political persuasions to stop arguing with each other. Stop blaming the other side for all our problems. Stop listening to the globalist spin doctors. If not I fear for our country and the future for our children. Our free republic is under assault because it is the primary force that stands between the corrupt globalist’s new world order. This threat is much greater than traditional party politics. We must unite as a country and defeat the true evil before we wake up and no longer recognize or country.
This should be compulsory reading ! No-one has articulated our local and national situations as well as Chris Bray!! What the hell happened to reason, truth and civil discourse?? Thank you Chris!
Truth. As of this moment. But like the Berlin wall, change happens quickly when the people see a better way of life in their reach. It's up to us on Team Reality to make that vision appear in reach.
Another example is in energy, a field I know well working in the O&G business. Those pushing renewables at all costs will be proven wrong (catastrophically), and those of us trying to push back will continue to be ignored.
Pat Caddell said it before Trump, and he was right: The corrupt media are enemies of the state and will be the downfall of the US. Sadly, the MSM are worse now than when Caddell was still with us, and if he hadn't already passed, the state of "journalism" today would probably kill him: https://youtu.be/IBR4g6cBYeA?t=148
Dueling being banned was a mistake at every level.
See Drive by’s.
Inevitable? Lighten up Chris - it's Friday.
Let's begin at the end. You concluded, "Until collapse, which becomes inevitable..."
That collapse is well underway. We have thrown out our constitution, substituting rule by bureaucratic fiat for rule of law. And, adhering to the historically very successful "divide and conquer methodology, we have racialized pretty much everything! I fear we are in the process of doing away with meaningful elections. We have totally destroyed a formerly decent education system, and done away with affordable health care, (for many, if not most). We are in the process of emasculating our military, which only makes sense - as the enemy is now us. You and I. Which is no doubt why we have chosen to militarize so many government departments.
Local police forces, all over the world, are being replaced by well armed para militaries. The US has transferred tens of billions, that's Billions, with a "B", worth of military equipment to police forces in the last couple of decades. My cousin, who spent just under two decades as a policeman, was horrified that his department acquired military hardware including armored vehicles, armed helicopters, heavy weapons, and "way too many things that go bang". And, in his opinion, far, far too little training in, how, OR WHEN, to deploy all that firepower.
It probably makes sense for the IRS to create an army. Every totalitarian state in history has armed it's tax collectors. AND authorized them to employ lethal force. It may even make sense to arm and train the folks who patrol our National Parks. But what about the thousands of semi-trained armed “agents”, with stockpiles of millions of rounds of ammunition, who work for the departments of Education, and Interior, the US Postal Service, the EPA, and by far the most difficult to understand, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The folks who forecast the bloody weather!
But, as my grandfather often said, "this too will pass". There is a future. We don't know exactly how it will look, but there will be a future. Will our current lords and masters be in the driver's seat? Will "the West" still enjoy the highest standard of living the world has ever known? (Rueful chuckle - not very f'ing likely!) But there will be a future.
There is still hope for humanity. Maybe *not* for our current bureaucratic, over medicated, under educated, over sexualized, over credentialed, kleptocratic, mentally ill society - but humanity. People.
There is hope in rural America. And among the peasantry around the world. Country folk, people in rural communities remember the skills taught by our parents and grandparents. We tend our gardens, and put up our harvests in the fall. We kill and cure a hog or two every year. And stock our freezers with beef, or game.
We are not afraid to socialize, after church. We still teach our kids how to make things, and fix things, and to hunt and fish. And to tolerate the "not us".
Yes, there are tough times coming. Yes, many people are going to see a reduction in their standard of living. Many are experiencing them now! But the heartland is still strong. In the words of one of our modern-day poets, "Country folk will survive!"