This is insane. I mean the American voter is insane but their reasoning is still insane.
You don’t have rules and norms and institutions because people wanna feel high and mighty (although to be fair some do). You have them to diffuse any causes for actual conflict and violence. We have institutions such as police because we have collectively decided it’s better to entrust the monopoly of violence to a small and (theoretically) trained force instead of having revenge killings (and worse) for every perceived slight.
As you said, Bane was self serving as hell. He broke the rules for HIM - and tricked a bunch of dupes with some legit grievances to support him, to their doom.
Besides people think you can just break one norm here, bend a rule there. But the cumulative effect turns out to be Russia - or a lot of sub-Saharan states ; pure chaos and “might makes right”. And guess what - those that have might make the right; you just HOPE that you’re in the right without those rules and institutions.
The dems were afraid to assert and reasssure with a advertisable process for trans... due to fear of a vociferous and probably Kremlin supported minority. Afraid to have an open selection due to opening a pandoras box of malcontents and media bloodlust...
It's not process per se... it's that America is built on lies and greed. What else is a dream after all...?
Apparently America lost its innocence in 9/11.. or was it Pearl Harbour.. or Watergate.. or Jan 6.. ?
Great essay. Part of the problem, I think, is that the rewards for following the rules are just not sufficient. You get just enough money and power to keep following the rules while those who flout them enjoy luxuries you cannot afford. Bill Clinton kind of understood this in the 1990s, but even he meant modest rewards like qualifying for a mortgage. But the real example of reward from work and struggle was post-presidency Bill, who hustled from indebted and embattled to multimillionaire global bon vivant and jet setter.
A lot of people look at our leaders, who say they serve us, and ask, “where’s my yacht?” Heck, “where’s my vacation where I don’t worry about the money?”
Another popular show that glamourized a criminal is The Blacklist. Raymond Reddington, a fugitive for 30 years, had built a criminal empire that seemed to have almost unlimited power through all his contacts, allies, and employees. He got the FBI to help him take down other criminals who were either in competition or who he found repugnant, including government officials who were part of a secret organization called The Cabal. He even killed the corrupt US AG and had his cleaner dispose of the body. He's a highly intelligent and complex character, capable of both brutality and compassion.
I've had enough Tony Sopranos and Walter Whites on TV. Hell even on The Boys, right-wing viewers were shocked by how the show was making fun of Homelander's right wing agenda even though it had done it since the beginning. Honestly, I want less antiheroes and more people being Superman.
You had me until the sex tapes comment. Wholly unnecessary! Both Paris and Kim have spoken extensively and publicly about how the men they trusted released those tapes without permission, and their lawyers made lemonade from the situation. You could’ve made your point without that reference (in fact it would have been stronger).
This is insane. I mean the American voter is insane but their reasoning is still insane.
You don’t have rules and norms and institutions because people wanna feel high and mighty (although to be fair some do). You have them to diffuse any causes for actual conflict and violence. We have institutions such as police because we have collectively decided it’s better to entrust the monopoly of violence to a small and (theoretically) trained force instead of having revenge killings (and worse) for every perceived slight.
As you said, Bane was self serving as hell. He broke the rules for HIM - and tricked a bunch of dupes with some legit grievances to support him, to their doom.
Besides people think you can just break one norm here, bend a rule there. But the cumulative effect turns out to be Russia - or a lot of sub-Saharan states ; pure chaos and “might makes right”. And guess what - those that have might make the right; you just HOPE that you’re in the right without those rules and institutions.
Biden outplayed Trump when he stepped aside for Harris.
The dems could have won this.
I don't see any reason to expect Trump won fair.
Lies won. And will deliver their poisonous offspring... Maybe America deserves it... but Trump should not have been on the ballot.
The ability to chose a felon was the issue.
The dems were afraid to assert and reasssure with a advertisable process for trans... due to fear of a vociferous and probably Kremlin supported minority. Afraid to have an open selection due to opening a pandoras box of malcontents and media bloodlust...
It's not process per se... it's that America is built on lies and greed. What else is a dream after all...?
Apparently America lost its innocence in 9/11.. or was it Pearl Harbour.. or Watergate.. or Jan 6.. ?
Good essay. Thank you.
Great essay. Part of the problem, I think, is that the rewards for following the rules are just not sufficient. You get just enough money and power to keep following the rules while those who flout them enjoy luxuries you cannot afford. Bill Clinton kind of understood this in the 1990s, but even he meant modest rewards like qualifying for a mortgage. But the real example of reward from work and struggle was post-presidency Bill, who hustled from indebted and embattled to multimillionaire global bon vivant and jet setter.
A lot of people look at our leaders, who say they serve us, and ask, “where’s my yacht?” Heck, “where’s my vacation where I don’t worry about the money?”
Another popular show that glamourized a criminal is The Blacklist. Raymond Reddington, a fugitive for 30 years, had built a criminal empire that seemed to have almost unlimited power through all his contacts, allies, and employees. He got the FBI to help him take down other criminals who were either in competition or who he found repugnant, including government officials who were part of a secret organization called The Cabal. He even killed the corrupt US AG and had his cleaner dispose of the body. He's a highly intelligent and complex character, capable of both brutality and compassion.
I've had enough Tony Sopranos and Walter Whites on TV. Hell even on The Boys, right-wing viewers were shocked by how the show was making fun of Homelander's right wing agenda even though it had done it since the beginning. Honestly, I want less antiheroes and more people being Superman.
You had me until the sex tapes comment. Wholly unnecessary! Both Paris and Kim have spoken extensively and publicly about how the men they trusted released those tapes without permission, and their lawyers made lemonade from the situation. You could’ve made your point without that reference (in fact it would have been stronger).