Robert in Davis, thank you for your honest post. I agree 100% and couldn’t have said it better. We want people to stop dying needless deaths, the democracy of this country is on the line. Have a great day. I had covid booster yesterday and am grateful to scientists and President Biden to keep a majority of us alive against all odds. One day at a time to be happy to be alive. 😉
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Well put Robert. I for one would rather have a grumpy Robert over a trumpy rob.
But happy up Amigo. Make life a joy ride.
Robert in Davis, sadly when it comes to such polarizing subjects, it is highly likely that those whose beliefs run counter to yours would say the same thing as it applies to your inability to think rationally, assess evidence and apply critical thinking skills. In other words, you can basically throw Logic out the window when those on opposite sides are both able to fully validate their opposing points of view based on the information they’ve been presented (and it’s likely both sides started their search for such information at the same source). Unless those on both sides of such arguments are willing to accept that the information they’ve received has likely been skewed, I imagine that there’s little hope for civil discourse under such circumstances.
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ROBERT IN DAVIS’ piece trots out a lot of Capitalized Big Guns: Enlightenment, Rationality, Evidence, Honest Account, Free and Open Democracy and–that familiar trump card (pun intended)–Reality Itself. but laying claim to these Big Guns by definitional fiat does not address the critical underlying issue of who gets to define each and every one of those terms (robert’s piece proceeds as if their definitions are self-evident, at least to anyone who “uses their god-given talents”), and, crucially, who gets to use the state’s monopoly on the means of violence to enforce and police those definitions, and to exclude from political community (as robert apparently proposes to do, i.e., “i can’t respect….”) those who do not accept those definitions.
the history of western political philosophy is divided between those who champion the power of rationality (plato, hegel, kant, hegel, habermas), and those who advise a more sophisticated understanding of the rationality of power (aristotle, machiavelli, nietzsche, foucault). post-2016 USA, a lot of progressive (and especially white) liberals are in a state of shock precisely because they have spun and lived in a fantasy world in which the power of rationality defines (their) Reality, but the past five years has been a rapid crash course on the centrality of the rationality of power in politics. a lesson that most black, indigenous, and people of color communities have internalized long ago, including in the brutal vise grip of the so-called Enlightenment (and its handmaidens Reason and Rationality) and the Free and Open Democracy.
74+ MILLION people voted for Trump in 2020. calling those people names and proclaiming your refusal to respect them might feel good and earn you points amongst others who happen to agree with your political conclusions, but it is not real political engagement, which must always be fought on the actual terrain of power. not “civility” or some fictitious “moderate middle,” mind you. power.
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Dato — in October 2020, I wrote my Mom and Dad’s obituaries on the same evening, as they both died on the same day (my Dad from Parkinson’s and my Mom from bone cancer), after being divorced for 46 years.
It was a surreal experience writing their obituaries, each name-checking the other, published side-by-side in the newspaper. Outside of car accidents (and murder/suicides), I’ve never heard of anyone else losing both their parents on the same day. The ultimate incarnation of Murphy’s Law.
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So sorry for your profound loss, Brendan.
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Thank you. They were good people who lived full lives. The one blessing of final illness (as opposed to going out in a flash) is the ability for all involved to process and say farewell. We had fair warning, and made the best of it.
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XICANO: yes, yes, yes, yes, & yes. so good today.
LEO MADIGOW: first stanza of this poem is pure genius. also, do tell: what drug is better than (good) sex with the right person at the right time?
CATALINA: where are you?
DRO&I: loved your page today; posting something tomorrow you may like.
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Bill G : all the snaps! 🙂
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H@M: That’s just a quote from ‘Heroin’ – the one drug I didn’t try in my mis-spent youth (well, spent, anyway).
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When it comes down to it white folks always going to fight to keep the power lets not bulls*** . So we fight.
Robert in Davis, thank you for your honest post. I agree 100% and couldn’t have said it better. We want people to stop dying needless deaths, the democracy of this country is on the line. Have a great day. I had covid booster yesterday and am grateful to scientists and President Biden to keep a majority of us alive against all odds. One day at a time to be happy to be alive. 😉
Well put Robert. I for one would rather have a grumpy Robert over a trumpy rob.
But happy up Amigo. Make life a joy ride.
Here are those links I reference. Worth the time.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59036814
https://runningforreal.com/jerome-foster-ii/
Robert in Davis, sadly when it comes to such polarizing subjects, it is highly likely that those whose beliefs run counter to yours would say the same thing as it applies to your inability to think rationally, assess evidence and apply critical thinking skills. In other words, you can basically throw Logic out the window when those on opposite sides are both able to fully validate their opposing points of view based on the information they’ve been presented (and it’s likely both sides started their search for such information at the same source). Unless those on both sides of such arguments are willing to accept that the information they’ve received has likely been skewed, I imagine that there’s little hope for civil discourse under such circumstances.
ROBERT IN DAVIS’ piece trots out a lot of Capitalized Big Guns: Enlightenment, Rationality, Evidence, Honest Account, Free and Open Democracy and–that familiar trump card (pun intended)–Reality Itself. but laying claim to these Big Guns by definitional fiat does not address the critical underlying issue of who gets to define each and every one of those terms (robert’s piece proceeds as if their definitions are self-evident, at least to anyone who “uses their god-given talents”), and, crucially, who gets to use the state’s monopoly on the means of violence to enforce and police those definitions, and to exclude from political community (as robert apparently proposes to do, i.e., “i can’t respect….”) those who do not accept those definitions.
the history of western political philosophy is divided between those who champion the power of rationality (plato, hegel, kant, hegel, habermas), and those who advise a more sophisticated understanding of the rationality of power (aristotle, machiavelli, nietzsche, foucault). post-2016 USA, a lot of progressive (and especially white) liberals are in a state of shock precisely because they have spun and lived in a fantasy world in which the power of rationality defines (their) Reality, but the past five years has been a rapid crash course on the centrality of the rationality of power in politics. a lesson that most black, indigenous, and people of color communities have internalized long ago, including in the brutal vise grip of the so-called Enlightenment (and its handmaidens Reason and Rationality) and the Free and Open Democracy.
74+ MILLION people voted for Trump in 2020. calling those people names and proclaiming your refusal to respect them might feel good and earn you points amongst others who happen to agree with your political conclusions, but it is not real political engagement, which must always be fought on the actual terrain of power. not “civility” or some fictitious “moderate middle,” mind you. power.
Dato — in October 2020, I wrote my Mom and Dad’s obituaries on the same evening, as they both died on the same day (my Dad from Parkinson’s and my Mom from bone cancer), after being divorced for 46 years.
It was a surreal experience writing their obituaries, each name-checking the other, published side-by-side in the newspaper. Outside of car accidents (and murder/suicides), I’ve never heard of anyone else losing both their parents on the same day. The ultimate incarnation of Murphy’s Law.
So sorry for your profound loss, Brendan.
Thank you. They were good people who lived full lives. The one blessing of final illness (as opposed to going out in a flash) is the ability for all involved to process and say farewell. We had fair warning, and made the best of it.
XICANO: yes, yes, yes, yes, & yes. so good today.
LEO MADIGOW: first stanza of this poem is pure genius. also, do tell: what drug is better than (good) sex with the right person at the right time?
CATALINA: where are you?
DRO&I: loved your page today; posting something tomorrow you may like.
Bill G : all the snaps! 🙂
H@M: That’s just a quote from ‘Heroin’ – the one drug I didn’t try in my mis-spent youth (well, spent, anyway).
When it comes down to it white folks always going to fight to keep the power lets not bulls*** . So we fight.