Stephen Frand Cohen was a giant and took heat from those who wanted eternal conflict with the Soviet Union and those who want to go after Russia since.
He was indeed a diplomat at heart. Max Boot is a propagandist. He had to resort to ad hominem attacks because he didn’t have an intelligent response. That video served as proof for my theory
Interestingly, as an SDS member at Princeton, we were disappointed at his lack of support. I don't remember the specifics, but he may well have been correct.
Michael, thanks for sharing this important observation.
We could do without all that black and white thinking. Actually we'd be so much better off being able to discuss nuance. I feel lucky to have friends I can discuss things with, but it's easy to fall into the trap of believing the vilification of leaders of countries that the west wants to invade.
It actually wasn't based on a true story, but some boys were stranded on an island together in reality. The result was much different from Golding's story.
Thank you so much for sharing this Diana! I heard the story of these boys a couple of years ago and had been wondering how and where I could find it again! It!s interesting the writer associates selfishness as an ethos of the west. This needs a much longer space to examine than here. But I think the presumption of Adam Smith and of Jefferson (who by the way privately denounced slavery as despotism and something to be abolished of as quickly as possible) was that our natural “selfish” impulses are healthy and good and generous and empathic and reasonable because we intuitively know that our happiness and well-being are interconnected. However as Jefferson said God (but not the God of one particular religion but rather a central universal moral/ethical sense needs to be the foundation of any sustainable free society along with education for all (eg information and the skills of discernment).
Noam Chomsky wrote one of best analysis of how the media functions in “Manufacturing Consent”, but he never talked about lower level strategies. I could write lots to fill in those strategies.
Myself, I simply start from the observation that we in the West are ruled by sociopaths. From that perspective, everything they do makes perfect sense.
Industrial civilization is, itself, sociopathic. Finite planet with finite resources = unsustainable. We can't 'go back' to before that infamous 'dawn of civilization,' but we sure as heck better find a way to get beyond it, and soon!
I absolutely agree that "THE media" default to black and white presentations. And, it seems to me, that our education system is defaulted to that as well. Scantron gave us right/wrong. We were indoctrinated from the jump: history is written by the victor! Nuance, context, gray areas, curiosity, learning (or being encouraged to use) the tools of critical thinking and analysis were not on the program. Ethics. Philosophy. But hey: you can't make your first million bucks with THOSE skills.
Elites work hard to keep the masses from development critical thinking. They know the best places to implement strategies to prevent critical thinking : school and the media
Can somebody please help explain? I don’t understand anyone preferring totalitarianism and authoritarianism over democracy. How can anyone voluntarily accede to a system of complete control where there is no way to replace an unjust or psychopathically cruel leader and no possibility of redress for crimes against humanity?
I can explain it to you, without being confrontational. Just to remind you, I am not a Trumper or for Biden/Harris supporter.
First off, not many people buy into the "totalitarian" script that the liberal media sells. Trump is winning the white working-class vote, the black vote and the Hispanic vote. I live in a liberal city. I was shocked to find out that my son's high school class was by and large supporting Trump. I started investigating.
The black community feels remarkably betrayed by Biden. He ran on BLM and then deserted them. The Hispanic community likes trump too. because they felt the economy was better under Trump. This is after 8 years of being told that Trump was a bigot. a lot of black people remember Biden in the old days of being a strong anti-busing, pro-segregationist. You can read my article about this.
Many others see Trump as an outsider to our political system. The fact that his popularity went up after his convictions tell lots about what Americans think about our institutions.
People feel the two-party system has failed them. The white working class is still stinging from being called "deplorables".
Also, the Democrats have moved to a pretty authoritarian place themselves. They have implemented a powerful censorship complex; they back a genocide in Gaza; they picked a fight with a nuclear armed Russia; Now that they have nominated Harris, this makes 3 straight primaries that they have subverted democracy. My article about this will be out tomorrow.
I highly recommend reading "Wall Street's War on Wall Street. He explains this in very good detail. Be open minded and read what the author says. He shows in very good detail, very well laid out data about the American public, The contempt that the masses have for our political system is well earned.
I appreciate your taking the time to reply. There are a number of things you say here I feel are open to a different interpretation. Suffice it to say for now, is that the baseline for me is, knowing we are all imperfect, what steps are open to us at each moment to support the best in ourselves and our humanity.
Thats why I write. To educate and help people develop ideas. That, and it's also my passion. And yes, we are all imperfect and definitively human. We all tend to value our heart over what's true. I am guilty of that too, we all are.
They are just regurgitating lines they hear in the media. There is no rational discussion that can be had. If people like Jeffrey Sachs, John Mearsheimer or Stephen Cohen can’t enlighten them, they can’t be enlightened.
Stephen Frand Cohen was a giant and took heat from those who wanted eternal conflict with the Soviet Union and those who want to go after Russia since.
He is missed by the sane.
Ron Paul soldiers on.
He was indeed a diplomat at heart. Max Boot is a propagandist. He had to resort to ad hominem attacks because he didn’t have an intelligent response. That video served as proof for my theory
Interestingly, as an SDS member at Princeton, we were disappointed at his lack of support. I don't remember the specifics, but he may well have been correct.
That’s interesting. How did he not support you ?
Honestly, I don't remember the details, but it may have had something to do with our 'style' - lots of fervor, not always backed up with nuance?
Very possible. He was a notoriously cranky person, but he had a vast knowledge base.
Michael, thanks for sharing this important observation.
We could do without all that black and white thinking. Actually we'd be so much better off being able to discuss nuance. I feel lucky to have friends I can discuss things with, but it's easy to fall into the trap of believing the vilification of leaders of countries that the west wants to invade.
Have you ever read the story of the boys who actually were shipwrecked Lord of the Flies style? Very different from the book: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months I think it's convenient for the powers that be for us to consider our inherent nature evil.
no I didn’t even know it was based on a true story. I’ll check out the link you sent, thanks for sending it
It actually wasn't based on a true story, but some boys were stranded on an island together in reality. The result was much different from Golding's story.
they're actually making a movie about this story:
https://www.insidehook.com/film/lord-of-the-flies-real-life-adapted-film
Thank you so much for sharing this Diana! I heard the story of these boys a couple of years ago and had been wondering how and where I could find it again! It!s interesting the writer associates selfishness as an ethos of the west. This needs a much longer space to examine than here. But I think the presumption of Adam Smith and of Jefferson (who by the way privately denounced slavery as despotism and something to be abolished of as quickly as possible) was that our natural “selfish” impulses are healthy and good and generous and empathic and reasonable because we intuitively know that our happiness and well-being are interconnected. However as Jefferson said God (but not the God of one particular religion but rather a central universal moral/ethical sense needs to be the foundation of any sustainable free society along with education for all (eg information and the skills of discernment).
Thanks so much for writing this. Civility is the first casualty of propaganda.
That’s a great line. Thanks for sharing that. It reminds me of “the first casualty of war is freedom of press”.
They sounds contradictory, but they aren’t
If black and white thinking gives the Boots and Kagans the wars and empire that they so crave, then that is what they will use.
Notice how the same thinkers use the phrase "it's nuanced" when they are trying to obfuscate a relatively simple issue.
Noam Chomsky wrote one of best analysis of how the media functions in “Manufacturing Consent”, but he never talked about lower level strategies. I could write lots to fill in those strategies.
Think it would be a good book?
I can think of worse books.
Myself, I simply start from the observation that we in the West are ruled by sociopaths. From that perspective, everything they do makes perfect sense.
That’s a good perspective to look at it with those eyes. With any other set of eyes, none of it adds up
Industrial civilization is, itself, sociopathic. Finite planet with finite resources = unsustainable. We can't 'go back' to before that infamous 'dawn of civilization,' but we sure as heck better find a way to get beyond it, and soon!
We have never faced extinction on two major fronts before: climate destruction or nuclear annihilatiokn
I absolutely agree that "THE media" default to black and white presentations. And, it seems to me, that our education system is defaulted to that as well. Scantron gave us right/wrong. We were indoctrinated from the jump: history is written by the victor! Nuance, context, gray areas, curiosity, learning (or being encouraged to use) the tools of critical thinking and analysis were not on the program. Ethics. Philosophy. But hey: you can't make your first million bucks with THOSE skills.
Elites work hard to keep the masses from development critical thinking. They know the best places to implement strategies to prevent critical thinking : school and the media
I find it interesting how both parties “create people”. Same in Europe
Apparently Macron was created. It was seen he could be used for political ends so first they made him rich
Same story with JD Vance and Rahm Emanuel
Clinton’s too but that was not as well crafted
These puppets are manufactured by the oligarchs
Then made our “representatives”
It’s cool in a way how easily democratic systems are co-opted
Of course you need billions to do it
But with control of the levers of power can easily get more billions
Don’t forget Obama. He was created to be Superman.
Fantastic one here, Michael!
Can somebody please help explain? I don’t understand anyone preferring totalitarianism and authoritarianism over democracy. How can anyone voluntarily accede to a system of complete control where there is no way to replace an unjust or psychopathically cruel leader and no possibility of redress for crimes against humanity?
I can explain it to you, without being confrontational. Just to remind you, I am not a Trumper or for Biden/Harris supporter.
First off, not many people buy into the "totalitarian" script that the liberal media sells. Trump is winning the white working-class vote, the black vote and the Hispanic vote. I live in a liberal city. I was shocked to find out that my son's high school class was by and large supporting Trump. I started investigating.
The black community feels remarkably betrayed by Biden. He ran on BLM and then deserted them. The Hispanic community likes trump too. because they felt the economy was better under Trump. This is after 8 years of being told that Trump was a bigot. a lot of black people remember Biden in the old days of being a strong anti-busing, pro-segregationist. You can read my article about this.
Many others see Trump as an outsider to our political system. The fact that his popularity went up after his convictions tell lots about what Americans think about our institutions.
People feel the two-party system has failed them. The white working class is still stinging from being called "deplorables".
Also, the Democrats have moved to a pretty authoritarian place themselves. They have implemented a powerful censorship complex; they back a genocide in Gaza; they picked a fight with a nuclear armed Russia; Now that they have nominated Harris, this makes 3 straight primaries that they have subverted democracy. My article about this will be out tomorrow.
I highly recommend reading "Wall Street's War on Wall Street. He explains this in very good detail. Be open minded and read what the author says. He shows in very good detail, very well laid out data about the American public, The contempt that the masses have for our political system is well earned.
“…3 straight primaries they have subverted democracy.” one subverted primary should have been enough to
disillusion anyone! But never when bringing up the issue have I been able to elicit any outrage….
I appreciate your taking the time to reply. There are a number of things you say here I feel are open to a different interpretation. Suffice it to say for now, is that the baseline for me is, knowing we are all imperfect, what steps are open to us at each moment to support the best in ourselves and our humanity.
Thats why I write. To educate and help people develop ideas. That, and it's also my passion. And yes, we are all imperfect and definitively human. We all tend to value our heart over what's true. I am guilty of that too, we all are.
Democrats will say if don’t vote for the airhead Kamala then are a racist and a misogynist turd
The notion that there are ‘two sides’ to every issue used to be a commonplace. But even that is a simplification.
Anderson Cooper is a flack for the deep state, zero credibility
Another issue is the strangeness of the assassination attempt
So many lose threads that Detective Colombo could ponder
Apparently the kid used a drone for surveillance
Then why not use a drone for attack like the Ukrainians do?
So many lose threads many have mentioned them
Multiple shooters? Will we ever know?
Who the puppet on the stage is does not matter much in any case
Apparently the kid wanted fame?
THE JOKER’S HOME
-
Trapped in a fold of darkness that’s razored inside,
the Player meets the Joker
who swirls colours before his mind
The Player stretches but at his grab they disappear;
a feeling that this has occurred before
-
Joker,
I’m in this world where you play God
Joker,
I’m a squashed fly on the wall
-
Fantasy’s where everyone’s Jesus has a different face
and laughing Devils are countless
Here the Player stumbles through the maps of deception,
searching for gurus to guide him to the Joker’s home
-
Joker,
I’m in this world where you play God
Joker,
I’m the gull in the storm
-
Through dark, unhappy people, the Player travels
and brings his spirit to rest after seas have sighed
Mocks himself, says Jesus and the Devil are one
and that he’s been a visitor in the Joker’s home
-
All this goddamn while.
I just attempted to have a conversation with someone who responded like Max Boot…the smirking superiority, talking
over, interrupting. So frustrating.
They are just regurgitating lines they hear in the media. There is no rational discussion that can be had. If people like Jeffrey Sachs, John Mearsheimer or Stephen Cohen can’t enlighten them, they can’t be enlightened.
Just don’t take it personally.
Amen…no, can’t take it personally.
Please excuse the self-promotion. A couple of apolitical looks at the problem:
https://jstuckey.substack.com/p/opinions-opinions-everywhere https://jstuckey.substack.com/p/living-in-the-towers-of-babel
That’s why the media trains people to think that way