Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

American Psychosis - Chris Hedges

Page 1 of 1 [ 10 posts ] 

Previous topic | Next topic

VegetableMan
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Jun 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,208
Location: Illinois

29 Aug 2021, 9:35 am

A chilling synopsis of the state of America from Chris Hedges.


_________________
What do you call a hot dog in a gangster suit?

Oscar Meyer Lansky


techstepgenr8tion
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Feb 2005
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 24,182
Location: 28th Path of Tzaddi

30 Aug 2021, 9:53 am

I remember sharing this on on Facebook a while back. Seems like this has been getting more apparent since at least 2015, probably even as early as 2008.

This is what it looks like when peace-time kleptocrats start to really fail at their job (the high school popular kids who are good at being popular and miserable at handling any kind of real emergency or anything that needs to make effective contact with reality). Still the world goes on despite them.


_________________
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” - James Baldwin


VegetableMan
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Jun 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,208
Location: Illinois

30 Aug 2021, 10:05 am

techstepgenr8tion wrote:
I remember sharing this on on Facebook a while back. Seems like this has been getting more apparent since at least 2015, probably even as early as 2008.

This is what it looks like when peace-time kleptocrats start to really fail at their job (the high school popular kids who are good at being popular and miserable at handling any kind of real emergency or anything that needs to make effective contact with reality). Still the world goes on despite them.


It goes back way further than 2008, I think. We've been in a downward spiral sine the Reagan years, although it's pick up speed the last 20 years.

Yes, very few have a good handle on the reality we're facing because it seems unimaginable and nobody wants to face it. My own family thinks I'm crazy when I talk about these issues.


_________________
What do you call a hot dog in a gangster suit?

Oscar Meyer Lansky


techstepgenr8tion
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Feb 2005
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 24,182
Location: 28th Path of Tzaddi

30 Aug 2021, 10:20 am

VegetableMan wrote:
Yes, very few have a good handle on the reality we're facing because it seems unimaginable and nobody wants to face it. My own family thinks I'm crazy when I talk about these issues.


To most people Darwinian game theory is a weird / fringe idea. If you're not one of those people it gets a bit easier to follow.


_________________
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” - James Baldwin


VegetableMan
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Jun 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,208
Location: Illinois

30 Aug 2021, 10:30 am

techstepgenr8tion wrote:
VegetableMan wrote:
Yes, very few have a good handle on the reality we're facing because it seems unimaginable and nobody wants to face it. My own family thinks I'm crazy when I talk about these issues.


To most people Darwinian game theory is a weird / fringe idea. If you're not one of those people it gets a bit easier to follow.


I wonder if people on the autism spectrum are better equipped to understanding the issue, since many of us have little to no chance of ever fitting in and we have been brutalized by "normal" society.


_________________
What do you call a hot dog in a gangster suit?

Oscar Meyer Lansky


techstepgenr8tion
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Feb 2005
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 24,182
Location: 28th Path of Tzaddi

30 Aug 2021, 10:33 am

VegetableMan wrote:
I wonder if people on the autism spectrum are better equipped to understanding the issue, since many of us have little to no chance of ever fitting in and we have been brutalized by "normal" society.


I think that's a large part of it - ie. if the 'rules' don't apply to you then you get a better look at what the actual rules probably are.

Another Chris Hedges discussion that underscores the above:


_________________
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” - James Baldwin


VegetableMan
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Jun 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,208
Location: Illinois

30 Aug 2021, 10:36 am

techstepgenr8tion wrote:
VegetableMan wrote:
I wonder if people on the autism spectrum are better equipped to understanding the issue, since many of us have little to no chance of ever fitting in and we have been brutalized by "normal" society.


I think that's a large part of it - ie. if the 'rules' don't apply to you then you get a better look at what the actual rules probably are.

Another Chris Hedges discussion that underscores the above:



Precisely!

I'll check that video out later, thanks for posting it.


_________________
What do you call a hot dog in a gangster suit?

Oscar Meyer Lansky


VegetableMan
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Jun 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,208
Location: Illinois

30 Aug 2021, 5:05 pm

I did see that JD video. I have immense respect for Chris Hedges for his work at Rutgers. These inmates can make a big difference having a better understanding of the rot that infects the system. It gives me some hope for the future.


_________________
What do you call a hot dog in a gangster suit?

Oscar Meyer Lansky


shlaifu
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 May 2014
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,659

30 Aug 2021, 6:37 pm

VegetableMan wrote:
I did see that JD video. I have immense respect for Chris Hedges for his work at Rutgers. These inmates can make a big difference having a better understanding of the rot that infects the system. It gives me some hope for the future.


I think what NTs are better at is being individually optimistic, meaning: the world might go to hell, but I will work hard and watch the world go to hell from the window of ... my condo on mars.

what's lacking is class-consciousness. If you have to work for a living, you're working class, and you will be f****d together with everyone else in the working class. You might as well give up your retirement plans and organize, -but it seems everyone else seems to think they can retire on mars amd watch the world go to hell....


_________________
I can read facial expressions. I did the test.


techstepgenr8tion
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Feb 2005
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 24,182
Location: 28th Path of Tzaddi

30 Aug 2021, 6:45 pm

shlaifu wrote:
what's lacking is class-consciousness. If you have to work for a living, you're working class, and you will be f****d together with everyone else in the working class. You might as well give up your retirement plans and organize, -but it seems everyone else seems to think they can retire on mars amd watch the world go to hell....


Or make sure that bunkers in New Zealand are rendered absolutely worthless in some way. If they either can't hide while the world burns or can't stay alive without our blessing and it's made obvious - then we're okay. If they can break off and stay safe while everyone else isn't - they have less reason to worry about investing. Will a few virtuous billionaires hold the feet of the others to the fire? I'd rather they not be forced to, better if other classes have some kind of collateral that can't be revoked and that could be pulled if they get the wrong idea about the value of human life.


_________________
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” - James Baldwin