Day 1225 – Support the Pandemic! Support the President.
Wednesday May 27, 2020
158 Days until the election on November 3rd
238 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021
The year was 1954. My father had to go to England to work with Dr. Birch on refraction gratings. Mom and Dad took the S. S. United States to Europe. They got all dressed up to get on the boat, as was the custom at that time.
Mom recalled seeing coffins being loaded onto the ship. She asked one of the crew why and was told that on a cruise of the five days that it took to get to England they knew that a certain number of people would die. It just made sense to be prepared.
The reality of the situation necessitated a solution. Another way to have approached it would have been to say, “Oh no, I’m not going to die. Neither is anyone else I know. Therefore, we don’t need any coffins.” The problem with that kind of thinking is that when someone does die what are you going to do? Burial at sea? Ignore the dead bodies in the corner (The Bill Gates explanation is what I’d like to coin that one.)
I have a friend. I’ve known her since grade school. A few years ago we met up again at a high school reunion. I think we had communicated before that via Facebook. She warns people that she has “extreme political views.” I didn’t care. That’s fine.
But then she started commenting on my posts, which was also fine. Her comments didn’t line up with the reality of what I was saying, especially around economics. I asked her not to comment on my posts about economics. Why? Because if you continually misrepresent what I am saying then it leaves the impression that what is being said has some validity.
Then I started seeing some of her posts. Many of them were headlines with links to articles. The headlines were misleading. I pointed this out to her. Oftentimes the articles did not reveal the truth about the situation. I pointed that out as well.
Facebook is like a tar baby. If you comment on something then its algorithms think you must like it and show you more of the same. I recently joined a monthly wine club. I am now getting besieged with offers about discounted wines. I didn’t need to join the club as I’m not drinking much wine, but I thought it would be fun. I’m regretting that decision, to some degree. Likewise, once I commented on my friend’s posts I saw more of them.
When it became clear to me that she either believed in what she was posting or didn’t care about the truth I stopped. What was the point?
The problem for me is that if something gets posted on my Facebook feed and it’s not representative of my values then without responding it makes it appear that I would be in support of said value. However, commenting gives rise to more publicity to some ill founded idea. It’s a deadly cycle.
The other day she posted another one that was, like many of them, not completely false, but certainly not true. The headline said Nancy Pelosi opposed remote voting by Congress but wanted to allow vote by mail. I pointed out to my friend that the real story was that Nancy Pelosi commented that it seemed that constitutionally you couldn’t do remote voting. She had asked others in the House to look into ways to do it. She thought the legality of such a vote would be “vague.”
My friend doesn’t seem to like the most successful Speaker of the House in the modern era. Okay. That’s fine. But I object to slanting the truth to try and make a point.
I pointed out the facts. I also mentioned that the Republican colleagues agreed with her.
For some reason, a person I don’t know but who knows my friend thinks it’s a good idea to chime in by calling me names and insulting me. Another person, whom we both know also chimes in. Her comments are either “There’s a lot of anger out there.” And or “Poor deluded individual.” I’m not angry or deluded. I am pointing out the reality. Another person whom I don’t know other than as a commentator on Facebook says, “Rick, you’ve said all this before.” Yeah? Doesn’t make it any less true.
I believe in fairness, equality, and truth. Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “Science is the search for truth.” I like that. Learning what is real is what science is all about. I also think people should be given a fair shot. That the game of life should not be rigged against anyone. I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. When it comes to economics, (and remember it used to be called “Political Economics.”) There are competing theories of what works best. The tricky part is, and what is left out of that statement is, “best for who?”
The “best for who?” question can be expressed best by one of several statements:
1 – A rising tide lifts all boats,
2 – I got mine. You get yours.
Capitalism, Socialism, Communism or any other political/economic “ism” you wish to put up, all have advantages and limitations. When Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto he was speaking as an economist trying to solve a political and an economic problem. His analysis was very good. His solution was not. Many of the folks who espouse capitalism have a dreamy idea about “if you work hard you will be rewarded.” Others do not, as best described by a friend of mine who went to Stanford and got an MBA, “How can I get an unfair economic advantage?” Socialism, which I think is best described as using your tax dollars to help you, can have limits too. There is always the problem that someone could take advantage of the system in some way. But this is true with all systems.
The folks who like to quote Adam Smith and “the invisible hand” of an economic system usually mis-state what he was espousing. He was saying that if you invest your money locally (in this case in Scotland) you will help the people around you. Seems obvious, but somehow that has gotten twisted by folks espousing a form of capitalism that says no regulation is best. No it’s not. And there’s no such thing as “a free market.” There are regulated markets, and the markets that seem to work best are the ones that don’t allow bullies. Unchecked capitalism leads to bullies, economic bullies, the 800 pound gorilla.
If you want to have extreme political or economic views that’s fine, but all I ask is that you defend and state them fairly. Don’t cheat.
Look I am tempted from time to time to restate things to point out the ridiculousness of the situation. It is sad to me when the point is missed. But if you are going to walk the walk and talk the talk I do ask that you accept both sides of the coin.
If you want to say you are pro-life, ie that you are opposed to abortion, I ask that you accept that you are also pro-death. That is by forcing women to not be able to terminate a pregnancy there is a higher incidence of those women dying. Also, accept the fact that you are forcing unwanted children into the world and they will not be cared for and nurtured as well as children who were wanted in the first place and this will lead to problems in the future like increased crime rates.
If you don’t like socialism than don’t take Social Security. Don’t preach to me about the poor farmers who get those huge grain subsidies that are causing them to grow more corn that is going into high fructose corn syrup that is going into our food supply and causing people to become obese and get diabetes.
If you like freedom don’t preach to me that you think it’s a good idea to allow every person, unhinged or not, to be allowed to walk around with a weapon that allows them to pull the trigger at any moment and wipe out everyone around them, I think freedom would say one should be allowed to live their life without fear. Allowing people to walk around with guns means the opposite. I think having a bunch of guys outside someone’s house with AR-15s constitutes battery and those people should be arrested for intimidation (ie battery, the threat of violence.) But that’s just me. I haven’t seen peace loving men with AR-15s.
I haven’t seen the Republicans who have a health-care bill, a pandemic response plan, an economic recovery plan that helps people (most people), a plan that allows everyone to vote (not just their supporters), a plan to make voting districts reflect the overall population.
I think Los Angeles County should be given fair representation. It has more people in it than at least half a dozen of the western states so why not give them twelve Senators? What too radical? Okay. How about this, let’s stop having the states that keep taking money from the Federal government and never paying back, let’s have them survive on their own, live within their means. Aren’t you sick and tired of those welfare states always crying and bitching? I am. Let them go free; be on their own economically. It’s the land of the free. I want to see them be brave. Stand on their own two feet. I am sick and tired of those liptards having to bail out them big tough talking “we did it ourselves” states. First off, you didn’t do it yourself, If you did you wouldn’t need the help of New York and California. I’m talking to you Welfare Queen States. You know who you are. Stop hiding behind Mitch McConnell’s skirt. I’m talking to Montana, North Dakota, Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming. Look – Don’t Tread on Me. Stop with your silly live free or die crap because it you were set free you’d die.
Sorry, I got a little off message here.
What I wanted to say was – Let’s Support the President!
Isn’t that what you wanted me to come around to? Don’t you want me to say he’s the greatest? Well, he is. I just didn’t realize.
I didn’t realize what it was he wanted. So let’s get behind him and support him, shall we?
His words and actions lead me to a conclusion (not the only one mind you, but a conclusion none the less.) He wants the pandemic to rage on. So rage on Garth!
Get behind the president. Support the pandemic, We don’t need no testing. Get out and congregate. Sure some people will get sick and die that’s what freedom is all about – getting sick and dying.
You first.
158 Days until the election on November 3rd
238 Days until the Inauguration on January 20, 2021
PS Yellowstone
dean jordan says
Lot to unpack here. First, it’s not pro-life(gads how i hate they got that frame)it’s Forced Birthers. 2. People are afraid of words, and they don’t even try to find out what they mean. Socialism. We know for a fact that corporatists and conservatives love socialism. They will stick their hands out each and every time there is even the slightest hint of money available, to the point of putting us all in the poor house. Examples are to numerous to begin to post here. 3. The gun thing, which is really a not understanding of the 2nd amendment, the only one they are familiar with, since they are fond of pointing out that they or others took oaths to defend the constitution. Okay, great, what does it say about wearing masks?Try the tenth. Example of its use? Try first president Washington. 4. Just overall. We are being led by a crime syndicate family. Until said crime syndicate family is locked up, we are all at a very serious disadvantage. Chaos is what they want while they systematically loot our very way of life. YMMV