Everything about your response here is why Lemmy is my first click in the morning: sober, clear thinking. What I keep wondering is can the rich be held accountable for the damage that they have done? They participated in this fiasco-coronation… they funded it. My head still spins about the loss of integrity in our entire system.
Last night I started reading Against The Machine by Paul Kingsforth… I always wanted to read Decline and Fall of the West by Spengler but this guy actually did — and a lot of other great thinkers that are making this transition feel much less tragic for me and more natural… and reminding me that empires fall but individuals can thrive. Do thrive — with acts of decency.
Thank you for that. And nah, I don’t think we’ll ever get the satisfaction of seeing the world’s elite face consequence, not unless it’s some broad-scale, massive collapse that impacts everyone, and even then they will hold out for a while in their bunkers. One thing that does give me some measure of hope is that despite being wealthy, they are not smarter than anyone else, and have the same overconfidence, the same vulnerabilities, the same biases and inabilities to see outside of their little spheres. The same mortality. They will make mistakes, as they have done in the past. Those mistakes will cost them power and wealth, it just won’t be a fairy-tale ending all at once, it’s just entropy perpetually leveling the playing field.
And yeah, I think our species’ fixation on narratives is giving everyone a false idea that stories “end” at some point. That Trump dies and everyone celebrates and credits roll.
We don’t get ending credits. We don’t even get a silly post-credits scene to imply a sequel. One issue just blends right in with the next, perpetually. The only real end-game goal or satisfaction any of us should focus on is each other and our communities. Individuals are the real star of every story, and there’s no such thing as background characters in the real world.
So… I have been friends in a writing group with a guy who voted for Bush2… and I have conscientiously tried to be human and humane to him because we go on hikes and movies together and he shares some of that co service ugliness in ways that help me understand the “other” better.
We had a blow out 2016… and we came back from it 2019… and now we know how not to have blowouts.
Recently I shared with him Gloria Anzadua’s HOW TO TAME A WILD TONGUE.
To my amazement he read it. We just had a discussion on empathy. No one died.
That’s great. I have had amazing success in my interpersonal life connecting with and then influencing conservatives. For a while, I had the most cinematically diverse gaming group you could think of, we had cowboy rednecks, a polycule of trans girls, ex-military intelligence officers, furries, communists, everything you can think of, and we all got along.
The key though was it took a lot of shepherding and listening. By giving everyone time to vent, talk, explain their feelings I was able to get everyone on common ground and we did great things together, and those positive feelings then went on to create change.
I don’t read nearly enough books anymore but I will check out your recommendations so far.
Everything about your response here is why Lemmy is my first click in the morning: sober, clear thinking. What I keep wondering is can the rich be held accountable for the damage that they have done? They participated in this fiasco-coronation… they funded it. My head still spins about the loss of integrity in our entire system.
Last night I started reading Against The Machine by Paul Kingsforth… I always wanted to read Decline and Fall of the West by Spengler but this guy actually did — and a lot of other great thinkers that are making this transition feel much less tragic for me and more natural… and reminding me that empires fall but individuals can thrive. Do thrive — with acts of decency.
Thank you for that. And nah, I don’t think we’ll ever get the satisfaction of seeing the world’s elite face consequence, not unless it’s some broad-scale, massive collapse that impacts everyone, and even then they will hold out for a while in their bunkers. One thing that does give me some measure of hope is that despite being wealthy, they are not smarter than anyone else, and have the same overconfidence, the same vulnerabilities, the same biases and inabilities to see outside of their little spheres. The same mortality. They will make mistakes, as they have done in the past. Those mistakes will cost them power and wealth, it just won’t be a fairy-tale ending all at once, it’s just entropy perpetually leveling the playing field.
And yeah, I think our species’ fixation on narratives is giving everyone a false idea that stories “end” at some point. That Trump dies and everyone celebrates and credits roll.
We don’t get ending credits. We don’t even get a silly post-credits scene to imply a sequel. One issue just blends right in with the next, perpetually. The only real end-game goal or satisfaction any of us should focus on is each other and our communities. Individuals are the real star of every story, and there’s no such thing as background characters in the real world.
So… I have been friends in a writing group with a guy who voted for Bush2… and I have conscientiously tried to be human and humane to him because we go on hikes and movies together and he shares some of that co service ugliness in ways that help me understand the “other” better.
We had a blow out 2016… and we came back from it 2019… and now we know how not to have blowouts.
Recently I shared with him Gloria Anzadua’s HOW TO TAME A WILD TONGUE.
To my amazement he read it. We just had a discussion on empathy. No one died.
That’s great. I have had amazing success in my interpersonal life connecting with and then influencing conservatives. For a while, I had the most cinematically diverse gaming group you could think of, we had cowboy rednecks, a polycule of trans girls, ex-military intelligence officers, furries, communists, everything you can think of, and we all got along.
The key though was it took a lot of shepherding and listening. By giving everyone time to vent, talk, explain their feelings I was able to get everyone on common ground and we did great things together, and those positive feelings then went on to create change.
I don’t read nearly enough books anymore but I will check out your recommendations so far.