‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ [Zechariah 7:9-10]
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I am grateful for this essay. I have not seen anything so succinct or complete on the subject. Very nearly shorn of all political judgment. Only a few words need to be plucked out to make it perfectly acceptable to those about whom It is written, while retaining the meaning and allowing judgments to be formed by the reader.
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The citizens of Germany, particularly the older generation must be listening to Trump and are saying “We don’t need the translation in its original German, we know what he’s saying, and it isn’t good”.
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It’s certainly different from the rest of France but I found myself very comfortable among those people
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They’re not good people at all. That’s why they believe and vote the way they do.
Yeah spot on.
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Ach, back to ‘English Bastards’ for me, then.
Feels good to be home.
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The entire belief that there is a tangible difference between human beings of slightly different backgrounds is beyond comprehension. The problem is that some fear that which they perceive to be different, and that fear quickly turns to hate. This also overlooks the fact that we are all of the same species. “Race” is a social construct which needs to go away. There is a candidate for the Presidency who hopes to tap into that fear, and ride it the White House. He must be stopped. GOTV.
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Unfortunately, human brains are wired for tribal identification and conflict with “The Other.” Even if “The Other” is just in the next valley and they look like us. Civilization can mitigate this to a certain extent, but the risk is always there under the surface. Because we’re wired this way.
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Perhaps “wired” to serve in one particular way, but this isn’t just a problem between tribes in separate valleys, it inhibits communications and interactions between members of the same tribe for a number of reasons.
I began my career with mostly a “technical” background (electronics, electrical engineering, mathematics, computer science) but I claim that the main reason I successfully transitioned to “management” was that one course in Cultural Anthropology I took in community college.
The course was a basic intro, but it introduced me to the whole set of concepts surrounding “cultural identity” in a very creative way. Rather than plowing through introductions to multiple “cultures” existing in distinct parts of the world, he had us study the idea of “distinct cultures” but looking at the characteristics of American university fraternities and sororities.
Most of the students in the class just went “huh?”, but as someone who by then had lived in three different countries and visited almost 30 more, I just lapped it all up. A distinct culture has initiation rites, it has a distinct language or set of terminologies, it has “cultural markers” that allow members to recognize each other. Yup, this just made so much sense to me.
So then, I transferred this idea of “cultural anthropology” to my working world. In doing so, I realized that in the “high tech working world” there are distinct “Marketing Cultures”, “Sales Cultures”, “Management Cultures”, “Geek Cultures”, etcetcetc, with all the attendant “culture clashes” you would expect between competing views of how the world works.
Even in my “geek world” there are multiple distinct subcultures, with their rites of admission, distinct language and terminology, etc (ask a Unix kernel guy what he thinks about a Web front end developer, or an Apple programmer what he thinks about Bill Gates… 
)
So what happened? As I dug into this, I realize that my contribution was not going to be in just seeing things that could be built with newer technologies, but that I could be of value serving as a “translator” between the various cultures we all swim amongst.
To paraphrase Barbara Billingsley in “Airplane”, I was the one, when folks were finding it impossible to communicate, who could step in and say “It’s okay, I speak geek”.
Now, the point of this rant is to point out that we don’t have to surrender to the MAGAs to realize that they are operating within the constraints of their own distinct “culture”. If we want to influence, persuade or even just “outflank” them, we need to see them as a distinct culture, with their own operating parameters. Once we do that, we can figure out how best to merge with, co-opt, or work around them (and don’t ask me what I’m working towards, I’m still working on persuading them I’m not a threat! 
)
Okay, genug. Hope this might resonate with a reader or two - if not, you might consider whether it’s because I’m from a distinct subculture, so can’t communicate using your framing… 
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OT: Vashon Island got a shout out from Kyle at the YouTube “Geography King” blog (Islands part 2).
He mentioned, among other things, that Vashon has a significant number of anti-vax folks.
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Whidbey Island has its share of anti-vaxers, and anti-government renegades, too.
I was amused to read this, from last fall:
The CDC reports that studies show the new Moderna shot can provide strong protection against currently common variants, while preclinical studies conducted to date on the new Pfizer vaccine show a strong immune response against the BBB.1.5 variant — or “Kraken.”
BUT, both Islands are getting better at getting their shots…
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The ones I know will give you the shirts off their backs if needed. I use to argue with them to no avail, now we just respect each other’s opinions, of course we are all in our 70’s and 80’s.
Oi, white people, you have been “replaced” eons ago, as by 2030 Europe and North America will comprise only ca. 13.7% of the planet’s population, and no amount of conspiracy-mongering can change immutable demographic facts.
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I don’t think of FDR as “anti-business”. What did I write that gave you that impression?
FDR was not so much anti-business per se, as he and his policies were pro-people. I’m sure some became rich from the dams and electrical power generating facilities created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Bonneville Power Authority (BPA), but the facilities themselves and the power they produce are publicly not privately owned.
And while the public benefit was and is obvious, the environmental costs have been and continue to be enormous are not as widely appreciated.
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Didn’t say that you did. But whole parades of anti-FDR GOPniks have, for about 90 years now.
The funny (ha ha see me laughing? 
) part is that FDR arguably saved American capitalism. Before the New Deal, parts of the country were damned close to a socialist revolt. Farmers were threatening to lynch judges over foreclosures. And he sure as Hell saved many, many bankers’ butts.
Roosevelt himself liked to tell a joke about it: A rich man, finely dressed and wearing an expensive hat, fell into the river and was drowning. A young man jumped in the water and saved the rich man’s life. But his hat was lost.
Years later, there’s a knock at the door of the lifesaver. And there’s the rich guy, saying “so … what about my hat, now?”
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Well, FDR, who was born into wealth, was savaged as a Traitor to His Class!!! by many of the monied elite of his time for his policies that benefited average Americans.
“A sweeping, magisterial biography of the man generally considered the greatest president of the twentieth century, admired by Democrats and Republicans alike. Traitor to His Class sheds new light on FDR’s formative years, his remarkable willingness to champion the concerns of the poor and disenfranchised, his combination of political genius, firm leadership, and matchless diplomacy in saving democracy in America during the Great Depression and the American cause of freedom in World War II.”
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That “shirt off their back” bullshit cliche is exactly how I describe fascist Rambo Christians. As in “They’ll vote to let women bleed out in an ED parking lot but they’ll give you the shirt off their back (if you’re not one of Them, that is, or if you’re one of the Good Ones).”
They’re garbage. Thanks for confirming.