Patrick Swayze on a Pottery Wheel!

According to our resident Delphic barnacle, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has come “out of nowhere.”

Let’s talk about that.

We live our lives in an online environment characterized by hateful, ideologically violent ad hominem attacks, hit-and-run partisan rhetoric, and the guilt-free savaging of people we call friends. We have done for years. Day in and day out. And you are what you eat.

Women assume all men want to rape them. Whites assume all blacks want to rob them. Blacks assume all cops want to kill them. Americans assume all Muslims want to blow them up. And we all assume that anyone who disagrees with us in any way must be our enemy, and at the very least can never be our friend. And the kicker is, none of these are completely groundless assumptions.

We live in a world of exceptions proving rules.

When I walk across campus, I am nearly run down by people so absorbed in their iPhones that they forget other people exist. We carry on conversations with distant strangers (twits with tweets that we are), while our nearest neighbors are virtually unknown to us. And when I do happen to catch someone’s eye, it’s often hard to distinguish between latent fear and outright dismissal.

We are terrified of everyone and everything. We populate our world with ghosts and specters of threats and danger (we ain’t talkin’ Patrick Swayze here!), and we embody those spirits in the forms of all the Others we don’t know how to approach: Muslims are terrorists, the transgendered are perverts, Mexicans are rapists, and African-Americans are thugs and welfare queens. Full stop.

Then, to put the friggin’ cherry on top, we wrap all this bullshit up in a nice, neat bundle of jingoistic self-satisfaction: we are the U.S.A., dammit, and we’ve stopped by to save the day! Can we help it if the rest of the world is too blind to see how much it needs our “assistance”?

We are a nation of self-absorbed, narcissistic, multiphobic war hawks with a collective God-complex.

Donald Trump? Yeah…what a shocker!…

To Pee or Not to Pee…

That is the question.

Okay, Christians, you asked for it:

Take your religious freedom and shove it! This is not freaking about YOU! And don’t give me this crap about how these anti-transgender laws provide a “baseline protection” for your religious freedom. There’s already a baseline protection for Christians in this country: being a Christian in this country. 501(c)3s, anyone? It’s on our money, it’s there every time we insist on political candidates “clarifying their views” on faith, and it pops out whenever anybody talking about anything anywhere in government “God blesses” America, as if it’s some sort of spiritual freaking punctuation mark.

In case you don’t get it (and probably haven’t thought about it), preventing the transgendered from using the restroom of their choice is equivalent to insisting that I, a straight male, use the ladies’ room. A transgender woman is a woman, not a man dressed like one; a transgender man is a man, not a woman in disguise. Simple as that. Kind of like a Christian who discriminates against others just because he can is an asshole, no matter how he dresses.

I am tired of wearing kid gloves on this issue. Religious freedom is not about pooping on others; it’s about freedom from getting pooped on by others. It’s about freedom from people like you. So, for the love of God (literally), keep your pooping to yourself. In the restroom of your choice. AS IT SHOULD BE!!!

Dear Sir…

Mitch McConnell:
Putting the “nothing” back in everything…

Terrapin Logic

The American people elected a Republican Senate in the last election. Where the two parties can’t agree we’ve served as a check-and-balance to the president, but where the two parties can agree we’ve repeatedly sought common ground to get things done.

– Mitch McConnell

This man is a one-man advertising campaign for term limits.

Let me get this straight: the guy who’s on record (not to mention video) making it his party’s sole aim to limit Barack Obama to a one-term presidency, and then failing miserably even at that, has “repeatedly sought common ground to get things done.”

To quote Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

But take heart: McConnell’s attempts at obstructing Obama’s second term indicate that he isn’t any better at that than he is at interpreting his own inner logic.

So, meet Merrick Garland, the soon-to-be 113th justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Shell of a thing, isn’t it?

Show Me Something

Out of the many, one…

I am a cynical man. But then, I was born in the Show Me State.

And now, we wait for Tuesday.

My fellow Missourians, a pale rider cometh, face streaked with the orange residue of FakeBake, hair askew, arms akimbo, wearing his hate on his sleeve, to tell you he can “Make America Great Again!”

Don’t fall for it. Be your proudly mulish selves, stubborn by birthright, and demand proof of life (and/or neural activity). Make him make a point, not an empty promise.

And when that point proves dull, turn around and kick him in the ass like the magnificent long-ears only you can be.

Do us a solid, Missouri…

Send the jackass packing.

 

How Single Payer Healthcare Works and What’s Been Going on in Britain

Read this. Please!

Benjamin Studebaker

Today I’d like to get at some of the deeper intricacies of single payer healthcare systems by telling you a story about what’s going on with Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). If you’re American, this post will shed some light on how Bernie Sanders’ system potentially works. If you’re British, this is where you’ll get my view on the junior doctors’ strike and what the conservatives are trying to do with the NHS.

View original post 1,062 more words

When Priorities Attack

(Image by Associated Press)

Viewers had a hard time deciding if the Democrat was wearing brown or blue.

– CBSNewYork

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our national political discourse…

I know the debates are getting a bit redundant at this point. There were some exchanges that were taken almost verbatim from the Flint, Michigan debate last Sunday.

But seriously…

This?

#WhatTheHell?

Has the Trump Effect become so pervasive that we actually can’t focus on actual things anymore? Is the man’s Twitter obsession contagious, rendering all other tweets vapid and clownish?

I mean, I’m no fan of Twitter, but surely we can do more with it than this?

Is it brown? Is it blue?

Is you kidding me?!?

 

The Myth of “Unskilled Labor”

If we look at reality for more than an instant, if we look at the human beings passing us on the street, it’s not bearable. It’s not bearable to watch while the talents and the abilities of infants and children are crushed and destroyed. These happen to be things that I just can’t think about. And most of the time, the factory workers and domestic workers and cashiers and truck drivers can’t think about them either. Their performances as these characters are consistent and convincing, because they actually believe about themselves just what I believe about them — that what they are now is all that they could ever have been, they could never have been anything other than what they are. Of course, that’s what we all have to believe, so that we can bear our lives and live in peace together. But it’s the peace of death.

– Wallace Shawn

For those of you who know Wallace Shawn simply as Vizzini in The Princess Bride, or as the Grand Nagus in Deep Space Nine, it might be surprising to discover the thinker behind the actor. If you haven’t read his essay “Why I Call Myself a Socialist,” I encourage you to follow the link above and do it, now.

In the meantime, a thought:

A post I wrote last week touched on the topic of “unskilled labor.” In an election cycle defined, at least partly, by the question of the minimum wage, and the level to which it should or should not be raised, I think this is a rabbit trail worth following.

You’ll notice that I place the words “unskilled labor” in quotes. That is because, simply, I do not believe such a thing exists. In reality, this is a distinction we make in order to justify valuing the work of certain individuals at lower levels of pay than that of others.

A professional is someone who does their job well, regardless of the line of work they are in. A barista or a waitress possesses a different skill set than my job demands, but it’s a skill set nonetheless. And their expertise is worthy of our respect.

Sadly, though, what they usually get is our scorn and impatience. They get to not only serve us; they get to put up with us in all our vainglory, as well. If the waiter, say, takes just a little too long to refill our water glass. Or if the gas station attendant is cleaning the restroom right when we need a pit stop. (Of course, had we arrived and found dirty facilities, we would have complained about that, too.)

There is a Spanish word that springs to mind: menospreciar. Literally, it means “to assign a lower price.” To value less, a habit born out of a false sense of superiority: after all, they are “unskilled,” right?

And yet, our day is built on the backs of these “unskilled laborers.” The woman who rings us up at the gas station or the fast food joint; the man who cleans the lint traps at our laundromats; the people who stock the shelves at our grocery stores, so that we don’t have to visit the warehouse each time we want a can of tomatoes or a stick of butter; or the folks who pick the apples that we so conveniently find, laid out and ready, in the produce section–in short, our lives as we live them would be impossible without these amazing and ubiquitous people.

Furthermore, if added value is the criterion by which cost is determined, then these lovely people deserve more than most “skilled” workers receive. Think about it: how important is what you do, really? None of us bats an eyelid when our favorite actors or sports figures threaten to walk out because their paycheck is too low on zeros. But perish the thought that the people who serve us our food or keep our workplaces clean get any more money than they should.

I catalog books, which requires a certain level of skill. But at my most skillful, I’m not nearly as indispensable as the guys who collect my trash or make sure the milk on the shelves hasn’t gone bad. These people are in disease prevention, just like the doctor who charges you $100 an hour to take your temperature. They are, in their own way, healthcare professionals.

Me? I just make sure books line up in alphabetical order. Helpful? Sure. But not exactly “Save the cheerleader, save the world” material.

“Unskilled labor” is the backbone and foundation of our existence. How dare we then begrudge these people, these professionals, an actual living wage? The $15/hr demand carries a moral weight that far outstrips the statistical considerations with which we counter it. What does it matter that more jobs are created if the ones that already exist cannot support the people who fill them?

What it comes down to is this:

These “unskilled laborers,” professionals all, take care of us day in and day out. So is it really too much to ask that we take care of them, too?

Careful What You Wish For…

Even with my eyes wide open I can’t see a thing.

– Zatoichi

Dear Trump supporters,

You have rallied behind this man because you believe that he represents your viewpoints and feelings of frustration toward a broken system. And in that conviction, you are running blindly behind an individual who, the moment you find yourselves in disagreement with any detail of his approach (and we always do, even with presidents we admire greatly), will turn on you with the same venom he has directed toward those who counter him now.

Think about that. For the love of everything sweet and holy, think about that!

I am not one to jump willy-nilly aboard the “Hitler train”; it has always seemed to me that this sort of hyperbolic analogizing demonstrates a lack of nuance in thinking.

That being said, as I watch Mr. Trump call for the expulsion of any and all presence of protest or opposed opinion from his campaign events, while simultaneously deriding the act itself of protest;

As I listen to his repeated calls for virtual pogroms against the ethnic and religious minorities among us, making them scapegoats for all the problems facing us today as a nation;

As I witness continued advocacy of any form of torture that best suits his purposes for the extraction of information from anyone he deems “the enemy”;

It becomes clear to me that this man is a fascist, plain and simple. This is not hyperbole; it is the only label that fits. And if Americans are scared of socialism, they ought to be soiling themselves at the prospect of fascism.

Here’s why.

Fascism brooks no opposition, no difference of opinion, from either friend or enemy…and the line between the two is always shifting. A friend today is a silenced enemy tomorrow. This is in direct contravention of everything we stand for as a country, regardless of our political stance.

Fascism bases itself upon the mindless acquiescence and action of the herd, in the knowledge that thought and consideration run contrary to its authority. Which is why you hear Trump disparaging the caucus process: better a system in which the voting responsibility is quickly dispatched. Too much discussion is onerous; it also might reveal some of the chinks in a candidate’s armor, and we wouldn’t want that.

Fascism seeks a scapegoat. It establishes itself on the backs of the culpable category: we are not great because the Jews are corrupting our society (or the Muslims, or the Mexicans). Distract yourselves by turning on them, and you’ll not have a chance to turn on the man behind the curtain.

These are the ways in which fascists deal with their enemies. And fascists have no friends. Only sycophants.

So, when you tell me that you support Donald Trump because he stands for the American people, know this: fascists stand only for themselves. And anyone who gets in the way of that self-love is hastily swept aside, or worse.

Donald Trump is all about building a wall, and I don’t think you realize how easily you might find yourself on the wrong side of it.

Hold this thought:

Whenever you hear Mr. Trump coming down on his scapegoat of choice, the Mexicans, the Muslims, etc., etc., etc., just remember:

There, but for the grace of Donald, go I.

Four More Years (of the Same Damn Thing)

Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!

– Thomas Gradgrind

I’m not gonna lie: I’m a little disappointed with Tuesday’s primary results.

The problem with the American electorate is that it suffers from a remarkable lack of imagination. And it has, once again, scared itself off just short of greatness.

Why are we, in this country, so afraid of big ideas? The Cold War ended 25 years ago; let the bogeyman go, people! In any case, no one is suggesting we go around calling each other “Comrade” and painting things red. And let’s be clear: Joseph Stalin was not a socialist, he was a dictator who used socialist rhetoric to consolidate and validate his rule. Not unlike certain other dictators (like Museveni in Uganda or al-Assad in Syria) who hide behind the rhetoric of democracy. Or xenophobic narcissists who build their movements on a platform of patriotic nationalism. Not that there are any of those around lately.

“Socialism,” as the younger generation of voters has responded to it over the last few months, is not (as has been condescendingly suggested by talking eggheads on news networks) just about “free college.” That’s part of it, but not remotely all of it…or even most of it.

The “New Socialism” is in many ways a restatement of Rawlsian “justice as fairness.” At its most basic, it’s about sharing. This is not a novel idea; most of us were taught to share as children. We just forget as we grow older. We’re not talking proletarian gray, here, either: no one’s calling for a complete leveling, just a little long overdue balancing in an effort to bring social divisions a bit closer to true.

It is not enough simply to preach faith in the American dream because the unpleasant truth is that not everyone is “created equal.” Donald Trump, for instance, did not earn his fortune. There were no bootstraps involved in his ascent; his is not an Alger-esque tale. Being born black is not the social equivalent of being born white; being born female is not the social equivalent of being born male; being born gay is not the social equivalent of being born straight. Not in practice. Doesn’t matter what the eyes of the law see; the eyes of prejudice are blindfolded.

What I advocate is not the abolition of success; it is the democratization of opportunity. Too many of our so-called entitlement programs are step-stools to nowhere. Even if all the unemployed were employed, the pay for “unskilled” labor will never amount to a living (never mind that our daily lives depend on this “unskilled” labor in almost every way). Why? Not because employers cannot afford to pay a living wage, but because doing so would cut into their profit margin. There is no will, so there is no way.

The only way to get past the “unskilled” jobs is to go to college, and increasingly, undertake some form of post-graduate study. But who can afford that? Working one’s way through college isn’t a feasible option anymore. So there’s the student loan. Which defeats its own purpose. These days, it’s a double whammy: not only will a college degree not net you a good job, but your unemployment will be complicated by debt payments people with jobs struggle to make.

This is the socialism of the Bernie Sanders supporter: Make America Fair Again. It’s not about free enterprise; it’s about freedom of movement. Freedom of access. Above all else, recognition of one another as interconnected. “Free college” is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. It creates a ladder out of disadvantage to a career, and a living; it creates an educated electorate that knows the difference between a brain and a hairpiece; and it raises the bar for all of us by raising the level of public discourse in our communities.

The rationale behind reining in the banks and drafting the support of the über-rich is simple: wealth hoarded, in the vicinity of so much disadvantage, is immoral. It is also unsustainable. The idea that affluence is the ultimate expression of the American dream is ludicrous, especially if my dream fuels another man’s nightmare. When we have what we need, we don’t need any more; however, the capitalist impulse creates the impression that we can never have enough. Which makes us blind to all our fellow human beings who actually don’t.

We need leaders who both acknowledge these imbalances, and who are willing to try and rectify them. Even if by way of baby steps. I support Sanders the democratic socialist because at the end of the day, a small step is still a step in the right direction. And if that’s as far as he managed to go, at least the next guy or gal will have one less rung to climb.

Here’s the thing about Hillary Clinton: she could easily run as a moderate Republican. Bernie, on the other hand, represents the true progressives among us. True progressives are, by definition, ahead of the curve; they make change by tugging the narrative forward, not by pushing it from behind. Not that Clinton will do either. If her tack holds, she could win, take a four-year nap, and still deliver as promised.

It’s not enough just to get four more years. We need someone who will actually do something with them.