I took notes today listening to Marjorie Kelly, whose new book is “Wealth Supremacy," about shaking the grip of capitalism: "First thing – talking to each other, seeing clearly, right mindset…connect even with a few who can spark a movement that can be a political force." Let's hear if for islands of coherence!
Fabulous. Just reading through your list of civilization-changing proposals generates both energy and optimism. It jolts one into a new day. These are seeds that go way down deep in soul. They evoke, "We can do this."
Reading through these thoroughly wise suggestions, I feel as if I am receiving the thinking of Earth itself.
Great model for a more respectful human-centric society, Suzanne.
I am aligned with all except the unmoderated conversations item because I fear there's too much possibility that the conversation would become heated and personally adversarial which would then cause many in the audience to be triggered into their own as yet unhealed traumas, thereby blocking their ability to maintain a clear focus on the subject being discussed. To hobble the listeners' ability to clearly discern each speaker's logic and position on important subjects that affect us all would seem to me to be undermining the original purpose of the conversation. I think you may be overly trusting that the office seekers would be able to remain civil towards each other without rules and a referee.
Those are my thoughts. I'd like to hear more of your thinking behind this suggestion.
Oh, I absolutely concur he would be ultra-obnoxious, and I also agree that many somewhat-rational (boy, is *that* ever a relative term!) Trump supporters would be shocked enough to not vote for him. In theory, that would be a positive result.
I see a few likely negatives that would outweigh taking that chance within this instant moment in our history.
1. Trump would simply not shut up with his insults and mendacity so Biden would never be able to get a word in edgewise/make any policy points. The only way he would be able to be heard would be to attempt to out-yell Trump and therefore lower the polity's overall perception that he is any "bastion of moral standards." either.
(If we were ever to make a Hollywood movie of this alternate reality, let's set it up so that "Biden" never says a thing the whole time and just sits there smiling at "Trump" who will exhaust himself in an ever-more-disjointed fashion with his litany of lies and pathetic victimhood. And when he finally has a blank moment before launching into his next lie, "Biden" simply looks into the camera and says something to the effect of, "I rest my case", drops the mic for dramatic effect, and leaves "Trump" sputtering on stage as the lights pot down. Hahahaha... maybe we don't need a movie post-election but I should send this scenario to The Lincoln Project for consideration now.)
2. Let's say that if such a scenario would play out well, what percentage of the now non-Trumpers would actually shift their votes to Biden? That's a mighty big jump to make for this type of person who up to this point has been so staunch. They might vote for a write-in like Niki Haley, they might vote for RFK Jr., they might cast for the Libertarian or Green candidates or they might just stay home and not vote; in all of those cases whatever choice they make is more favorable to a Trump win because unless there is a "part B" (a vote for Biden) to the "part A" (withdrawing their vote from Trump) it doesn't really help the instant situation.
And most importantly- 3. Incalculable danger: If past is prolog I think it is well within reason to presume Trump's spew would not merely be a display of his idiocy and unfitness to occupy the presidency, it would be to give him a platform to issue a stochastic call for mass violence to occur.
(Stochastic is a relatively new word to me. Dictionary meanings tend to be very abstract and rooted in the study of statistics but its has a specialized meaning within the context of DJT as the dear leader of the January 6th army of nut cases?)
Take the current situation of Trump saying yesterday in his post-trial statements before the camera outside the courtroom that Biden should get the electric chair for this travesty of justice that he has initiated against your favorite president and that Judge Marchan should be executed for doing Biden's bidding in this show trial prosecution.
Empty 1st amendment statements of a clearly paranoid and unhinged man? Or crazy like a fox statements of a man knowing that there are thousands out there under Trump's cult-like sway that are listening for exactly such marching orders?
Paul Pelosi's hammer attack is probably the most high-visibility example of the stochastic phenomena, but there a many, many others from New Jersey Circuit court Judge Salas, whose husband and son were shot to death answering the door for a supposed delivery person at the son's birthday party, to attacks on FBI offices, to the intimidation of school board members and longtime poll workers in highly democratic districts who will be replaced by Trumpanzees.
There is a reason that Judge Marchan and his family have police protection at their homes and escorts when they travel. Trump may be the presidential nominee for the Republican party but he operates like a mob boss whose enforcers are always listening for coded messages to carry out intimidating actions, and worse, if the boss intimates via his dog whistle that something should be done about these very unfair people who are railroading his campaign.
Conclusion: A smoldering civil war fire is occurring in our country right now. Allowing Trump to throw gas on it should under no circumstance be allowed to happen. Too much is at risk and Trump's predictability of always denying reality while fanning flames of unrest is a certainty. He's repeated some version of the same big lie message every day now for 5 years. I don't think there's any chance that he would ever behave himself for an hour or two if given the chance to perform his insane act before the entire public; quite the opposite would likely be the result of letting him off any kind of leash.
Yeah, to allow Trump an unsupervised opportunity to "debate" Biden before a national audience is more than just asking for trouble, it's ensuring that there will be trouble. What's that great Maya Angelou quote? Oh yeah, "When people show you who they are, believe them."
All this being said, I think you are on to something with your unmoderated conversation idea, Suzanne, but our civilization will need a pretty big course-correction in terms of being able to treat each other with civility and respect before such an open platform could prove productive.
Missed this when it was new. Hey hey hey, my whole point goes along with your Hollywood movie, where it would be giving Trump a rope to hang himself. Not crazy like a fox; crazy like a lunatic. I think the best thing for Biden would be to give him free range. He's not only obnoxious but he's not making sense anymore. Shine a spotlight on that. That is my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Yes. You are right. We need to talk. I feel my own exhaustion, sorrow, confusion and frustration intensely now as so many do. But that’s where I am and need to be now. Tomorrow things will move (maybe change) as that is all I know. Thank you Suzanne.
There's a major buzz it would be great to be having, where we'd be thinking about making things better. Who knows which way things will go, but talking about how things could go well keeps spirits up.
Suzanne, it's good to see more people are paying attention to your suggestions. It can liven up the conversation.
I took notes today listening to Marjorie Kelly, whose new book is “Wealth Supremacy," about shaking the grip of capitalism: "First thing – talking to each other, seeing clearly, right mindset…connect even with a few who can spark a movement that can be a political force." Let's hear if for islands of coherence!
Fabulous. Just reading through your list of civilization-changing proposals generates both energy and optimism. It jolts one into a new day. These are seeds that go way down deep in soul. They evoke, "We can do this."
Reading through these thoroughly wise suggestions, I feel as if I am receiving the thinking of Earth itself.
That's a beautiful comment! It is so encouraging!
Great model for a more respectful human-centric society, Suzanne.
I am aligned with all except the unmoderated conversations item because I fear there's too much possibility that the conversation would become heated and personally adversarial which would then cause many in the audience to be triggered into their own as yet unhealed traumas, thereby blocking their ability to maintain a clear focus on the subject being discussed. To hobble the listeners' ability to clearly discern each speaker's logic and position on important subjects that affect us all would seem to me to be undermining the original purpose of the conversation. I think you may be overly trusting that the office seekers would be able to remain civil towards each other without rules and a referee.
Those are my thoughts. I'd like to hear more of your thinking behind this suggestion.
I'm trusting that Trump would be so obnoxious in a very public forum that it even could turn off his base. No?
David Gardener <quantumleader10@gmail.com>
Oh, I absolutely concur he would be ultra-obnoxious, and I also agree that many somewhat-rational (boy, is *that* ever a relative term!) Trump supporters would be shocked enough to not vote for him. In theory, that would be a positive result.
I see a few likely negatives that would outweigh taking that chance within this instant moment in our history.
1. Trump would simply not shut up with his insults and mendacity so Biden would never be able to get a word in edgewise/make any policy points. The only way he would be able to be heard would be to attempt to out-yell Trump and therefore lower the polity's overall perception that he is any "bastion of moral standards." either.
(If we were ever to make a Hollywood movie of this alternate reality, let's set it up so that "Biden" never says a thing the whole time and just sits there smiling at "Trump" who will exhaust himself in an ever-more-disjointed fashion with his litany of lies and pathetic victimhood. And when he finally has a blank moment before launching into his next lie, "Biden" simply looks into the camera and says something to the effect of, "I rest my case", drops the mic for dramatic effect, and leaves "Trump" sputtering on stage as the lights pot down. Hahahaha... maybe we don't need a movie post-election but I should send this scenario to The Lincoln Project for consideration now.)
2. Let's say that if such a scenario would play out well, what percentage of the now non-Trumpers would actually shift their votes to Biden? That's a mighty big jump to make for this type of person who up to this point has been so staunch. They might vote for a write-in like Niki Haley, they might vote for RFK Jr., they might cast for the Libertarian or Green candidates or they might just stay home and not vote; in all of those cases whatever choice they make is more favorable to a Trump win because unless there is a "part B" (a vote for Biden) to the "part A" (withdrawing their vote from Trump) it doesn't really help the instant situation.
And most importantly- 3. Incalculable danger: If past is prolog I think it is well within reason to presume Trump's spew would not merely be a display of his idiocy and unfitness to occupy the presidency, it would be to give him a platform to issue a stochastic call for mass violence to occur.
(Stochastic is a relatively new word to me. Dictionary meanings tend to be very abstract and rooted in the study of statistics but its has a specialized meaning within the context of DJT as the dear leader of the January 6th army of nut cases?)
Take the current situation of Trump saying yesterday in his post-trial statements before the camera outside the courtroom that Biden should get the electric chair for this travesty of justice that he has initiated against your favorite president and that Judge Marchan should be executed for doing Biden's bidding in this show trial prosecution.
Empty 1st amendment statements of a clearly paranoid and unhinged man? Or crazy like a fox statements of a man knowing that there are thousands out there under Trump's cult-like sway that are listening for exactly such marching orders?
Paul Pelosi's hammer attack is probably the most high-visibility example of the stochastic phenomena, but there a many, many others from New Jersey Circuit court Judge Salas, whose husband and son were shot to death answering the door for a supposed delivery person at the son's birthday party, to attacks on FBI offices, to the intimidation of school board members and longtime poll workers in highly democratic districts who will be replaced by Trumpanzees.
There is a reason that Judge Marchan and his family have police protection at their homes and escorts when they travel. Trump may be the presidential nominee for the Republican party but he operates like a mob boss whose enforcers are always listening for coded messages to carry out intimidating actions, and worse, if the boss intimates via his dog whistle that something should be done about these very unfair people who are railroading his campaign.
Conclusion: A smoldering civil war fire is occurring in our country right now. Allowing Trump to throw gas on it should under no circumstance be allowed to happen. Too much is at risk and Trump's predictability of always denying reality while fanning flames of unrest is a certainty. He's repeated some version of the same big lie message every day now for 5 years. I don't think there's any chance that he would ever behave himself for an hour or two if given the chance to perform his insane act before the entire public; quite the opposite would likely be the result of letting him off any kind of leash.
Yeah, to allow Trump an unsupervised opportunity to "debate" Biden before a national audience is more than just asking for trouble, it's ensuring that there will be trouble. What's that great Maya Angelou quote? Oh yeah, "When people show you who they are, believe them."
All this being said, I think you are on to something with your unmoderated conversation idea, Suzanne, but our civilization will need a pretty big course-correction in terms of being able to treat each other with civility and respect before such an open platform could prove productive.
Missed this when it was new. Hey hey hey, my whole point goes along with your Hollywood movie, where it would be giving Trump a rope to hang himself. Not crazy like a fox; crazy like a lunatic. I think the best thing for Biden would be to give him free range. He's not only obnoxious but he's not making sense anymore. Shine a spotlight on that. That is my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Yes. You are right. We need to talk. I feel my own exhaustion, sorrow, confusion and frustration intensely now as so many do. But that’s where I am and need to be now. Tomorrow things will move (maybe change) as that is all I know. Thank you Suzanne.
There's a major buzz it would be great to be having, where we'd be thinking about making things better. Who knows which way things will go, but talking about how things could go well keeps spirits up.