Tag: #Democracy

  • ODDS and ENDS: Boycott, Data, and the WAPO

    (Nothing really matters…)

    Today is the Economic Blackout, if you haven’t heard, and our household is taking part in it. Yesterday, I ran all around town and did all of our shopping, and even gassed up the car, just in case. It can be rather tough to not spend money in New York, as it feels like you spend $20 the second you step outside of your apartment. I am confident in the reasons we are doing this (corporate greed, wealth inequality, oligarchs, inflation, Elon, Trump…) and I also know that other people have their reasons as well. I also know that many people out there think that doing something like this is meaningless and more theatrics than action. But, I will say this; if you are upset with how things are going, then it’s time to do something, even a “little” something. I won’t sit on my hands any longer waiting for someone else to say or doing something. What’s the saying? If you want change, you have to make the change.

    And as long as we are talking about boycotts; when will there be a boycott against the largest greediest companies in America? Talking about Meta, Apple and Google. (I would think the Economic Blackout would affect Amazon, but what the hell, we can throw them in as well.) Do we need to stop using our phones and computers for a day? Delete their apps? How do we stop these companies from getting what they really want from us; our data. What does a data boycott look like?

    And finally, I’d like to take a swing at the Washington Post while I’m at it. This morning I received an email from the editors at The Drift with an essay written by James Woods, the staff writer and book critic at The New Yorker and not that other James Woods. The email/essay delved into the stupidity of Jeff Bezos’ letter announcing the change in policy to The Washington Post’s editorial page. Long story short, Bezos is ordering that there will only be one opinion on the WAPO Opinion Page, which will be to support Personal Liberty and Free Markets. Woods’ does an excellent job in pointing out the hypocrisy and illogic in Bezos statement, and to me, signals the end of what The Washington Post used to stand for under Graham/Bradlee. (I would post a link to the essay, but it seems to only be an email at this time. If a link becomes available, I’ll share it.) With all of that having been said, I have a fantastical idea! Bezos bought the Post for $250 million, which is roughly what Elon spent to get Trump elected, so what if all the liberal billionaires, and all the other billionaires who hate Bezos, pooled some money together, say $250 million, and started a new newspaper in D.C. Then hire the whole WAPO staff away, and leave Jeff with a worthless company. Right? Isn’t that the only way to fight the oligarchy, is with the oligarchy?

  • Still Dealing with the Capital Riot

    I can’t seem to get my head in the game today. The kid’s schooling is going fine, and the wife is off and working.

    Me? I feel like there is this looming storm outside that is about to hit.

    Yes, this is a day of Covid fatigue, but also everything that has happened at The Capital, Trump, Biden, and all the other shit involved with it.

    I thought I was linked to the news before, but now, it’s like I can’t go five minutes to see if there was an update. It’s sickening. I feel like I am in a knot. This weekend was a loss for me, as I didn’t accomplish anything, just dealing with the anxiety of the moment.

    What I feel like is right after 9/11. Such as everything had changed, but at the same time, everyone was trying to go about their normal routines. Now, it seems even stranger as nothing was normal before 1/6, and today everything feels even weirder. The mere fact that people can’t even agree if the attack and its repercussion are worth dealing with. One side is, “Let’s Deal with This!” while to other is “Move on and heal.” The answer is both, but I don’t see that happening.

    The kid has asked a few questions about it, and I know she is trying to figure out what happened, and whether she should have an opinion. Clearly, the wife and I are very angry at Trump and want him removed immediately. But when I hear my kid parrots the same sentiment, that makes me uncomfortable. I know she can’t grasp all the details other than bad guys broke into an important building, so I feel like she should say those things. Yet, bad guys did break into an important building, and if we don’t stand up and defend this country from those bad guys, then what future am I leaving for my daughter.

    We have to show my kid how Americans deal with a situation like this. Protest peacefully. Vote. Get involved. Call and write your representatives on the local, state and federal level. Stay open minded and curious. Fight the fiery emotion of hate, with the cool logic of reason. And remember, always, that all Americans have a place at the table of Democracy.

  • And in the End…

    Biden flipped Arizona.

    I guess Trump shouldn’t have gone after John McCain so often, even after the Senators death.

    It’s like McCain got the last laugh, again.

  • 70 Million Trump Voters; Not a Monolith

    This seems to be a big talking point in the news and online right now; Biden got 75 million votes, the most ever for a winning candidate, but Trump got 70 million votes, the most ever for a Republican. The context seems to be that Biden’s 75 million are a fractured group that will come apart at any moment, while Trump’s 70 million are solid as a rock.

    I have to disagree, with that take.

    What I am reminded of is a research study that was part of our curriculum in a Sociology class I took in college. The study was over punk rocker membership and social strata, and how that reflects on society as a whole. Follow me on this…

    In the punk rock world, at the center were the hardest of the hard-punk rockers. These people dressed punk 24/7, lived it, and worked in it. Punk rock was their identity, and nothing could shake them from it, and though hard core and the most visible, it was a small group. Then around them was a larger ring with more people, but they were not as hard core, listened to the music and adopted the ideology, but also might have had a job and paid bills. Then outside of that ring was a larger group, who liked the music, and maybe had tattoos, but worked normal jobs, and dress punk out of work and on the weekends. (I think you get the point.) Finally, after several rings, you get the final group that likes the music, but does not have anything else to do with the punk scene, but those people do consider themselves to be “punk” on some level.

    This is how I see Trump’s voters. Trump’s people want us to believe that all 70 million voters are the tight hardcore at the center, but to be honest that’s the smallest group. The majority of Trump voters make up those final two “soft” outer rings. They consider themselves to be Republicans/Conservatives, but aren’t Trump people. Now, if you give these two rings the binary choice of Republican or Democrat, they will always side with Republican because that what they consider themselves, but again, they aren’t live or die Trump people. They are the people that are sad that Trump lost, but they don’t see it as a conspiracy.

    My point; relax everybody. It’s not as dire as everyone thinks.

  • Post Election: Still Worried

    (Oh, and this is just about as cynical of a post you will find.)

    I was excited on Saturday. Amazingly excited, and we drank champagne and went down the block for the dance party in the street. Ding Dong! The Trump was Dead! His reign was over and sanity was to resume in the world. I did shed tears when I saw Vice-President Elect Harris come out, dressed in Suffragette white. Another barrier broken, and a step closer to a more perfect Union.

    Then Sunday morning came, and I could tell the joy was giving way. We went to visit friends who think along the lines that we do, and though they were happy about the win, they were rather pragmatic about the situation on a whole. 70 million voters still support Trump, they said, and why would they stop supporting him?

    Outside of my family, I am still in contact with one open Trump supporter, and that guy sees the election as rigged, the media is still faked and biased, and he started adding that the 2nd Amendment was created for situations like this.

    Well, crap…

    I’m trying to see the world from inside the other person’s shoes, but I keep feeling like the other side has no intention of returning the favor.

    It makes me think that Trump is filling a deep emotional void that half this nation is desperate to have satisfied. It is a hunger that is satiated by a desire to hurt back. Using logic against that pain yields no fruit, and only exasperates the situation.

    What all of this reminds me of is my last job, and trying to get several different departments to work together for the survival of the company. I tried every tactic and trick I knew, from being the first person willing to compromise, to making myself available to any issue or concern they had, but it never worked. The reason was that they never had any intention to work together, or with me. They just wanted to win more than do the right thing. (And in the end, to stave off bankruptcy, the Board laid off half the staff, and cut 1/3 of the departments. Nobody won, and a bunch of good people got hurt.)

    That is where I feel we are.