Recently, I noticed something about my Robinhood account–I had $54 that wasn’t being invested! Its like the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry intentionally loses $20, only to find a $20 in his jacket from last spring.
This is my review of Erdinger Heffeweizen.
Not my kitchen
Some of you may not know what Robinhood is–its a stock trading app that lets you trade certain stocks, options, and cryptocurrency on their platform. They cannot trade everything, and unless you have an account valued over $25,000 they will not allow you to day trade, but they let the user make trades for free. Its popular with Millennials that want to ruin everything. The app makes money by putting the user’s un-invested balance towards their own securities the proceeds of which they will collect, a common practice among low cost trading platforms. I have a few investments that is money I didn’t spend that I would rather accrue value instead of sitting in a checking account. It serves mostly as a form of entertainment; my retirement is handled by paid professional, cigar chomping assholes. Since I began investing about 18 months ago I have a 19%ROI but that may level off at some point.
Speculating on Bitcoin is very much out of the price range of many but there are others to look at. Quite frankly I am no expert but other Glibs such as Richard and SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr did the deep dive here, here, and here.
“Paid Professionals”
Recently, Facebook got in on the action by creating their own version of cryptocurrency, Libra, meant to assist people in countries that have difficulty accessing banks. This strikes me as odd, because if somebody lives in a country so poor that finding a bank to store money and process transactions for personal business is problematic, how is it that person has access to the internet with strong enough signal to process such a transaction? Then there is this….
While true public blockchains are much more decentralized than permissioned blockchains, they also tend to have lower transactions volumes. Bitcoin processes about seven transactions per second, compared to the 1,000 transactions Libra expects to need for its users. Which leads to another difference between Libra and more traditional public blockchains: It has to accommodate Facebook’s 2.7 billion users, as well as the users of the other 27 association members.
Among the public blockchain features being designed into Libra, the transactions won’t have names but will instead rely on a string of numbers and letters that will be visible to the general public. Which means that while the identities of the transactions might be known to the manufacturers of some wallets in which users store their libra coins, the public can see only the public key— or address—owned by each transaction counterparty.
While Facebook’s new cryptocurrency wallet subsidiary, Calibra, will require users to go through an intensive anti-money-laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC) process, and will be reporting suspicious activity to the authorities, other wallet providers are not required to do so. Given concerns about how Facebook monetizes its users personal data, the company promises not to mingle transaction data collected by Calibra with Facebook’s user data.
I totally believe that last little bit.
There’s also the part where a ‘Facebook Sanctioned” currency sounds an awful lot like mining companies that once paid their employees in tokens that can be used at the company store… Then there is the part where Facebook is the central authority in the use of this currency. I thought the point of cryptocurrency was a decentralized currency with value derived from Adam Smith’s invisible hand, rather than a cabal at a central bank.
I decided to keep it modest. I will simply dabble in speculating with speculating cryptocurrencies while I check out patters on one that might actually be worth investing in. So for now, I own 12,195 Dogecoin. No I am not joking, but the currency began from what is essentially a joke.
Erdinger like every other beer made in Germany is fully compliant with the Reinheitsgebot. This is the beer purity law that has been in effect since the 1500s. It might be the only practical argument for a successful attempt at centralized control of industry, but I’m not about to entertain that given that I can make perfectly safe beer in my closet. This is made in the traditional German style with the slight citrus bite, and heavy dose of banana. Highly recommended at the German place in my neighborhood that has it on tap. Erdinger Hefeweizen 3.2/5
It’s Saturday morning and I have the doors locked. The house is filled with shady characters. SugarFree. Gojira. Mad Scientist. Mrs. Mad Scientist. Mexican Sharpshooter, Grand Moff and Kibby, Ozymandius, all coming later. So this will be brief. We’re talking about all you guys behind your backs. Especially you, Spud.
I wasn’t planning on watching the Team Blue debates, but if one can do that, fucked up beyond recognition with SP and SugarFree, it can be a fun experience. And while we were preparing, so was Reptilicus in a Pant Suit. Remember who predicted she’d be the Team Blue nominee because she was the most ruthless, vicious, and power-hungry “person” in the bunch. Y’all laughed at me. I feel closer to vindication.
ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. FRIEND STEVE SMITH AND ZARDOZ HAVE DECIDED TO SHARE THE POST TONIGHT. THE TABERNACLE HAD COGITATED UPON THIS, AND DECIDED THAT A VARIETY OF ADVICE AND LINKS WAS GOOD. MIND YOU, THE GUN IS ALSO GOOD, AND THE PENIS IS EVIL. LET US NOT FORGET OUR BASICS, CHOSEN ONES! ZARDOZ WILL DISPENSE OF THE BRUTAL DEAR ABBY…AS ALWAYS. THEREFOR, RECEIVE THE GIFTS OF ADVICE AND LINKS. GO FORTH AND COMMENT!
Q. My friends and family constantly ask me when I plan to get a new phone. I have a slide phone. I used to have a flip phone, which also drew the same questions. I am not a phone person. I have a land line at home with answering/messaging in place.
I am sick of the questions about my phone. I don’t want a smartphone. I have my little phone for emergencies, not so everyone I know can reach me immediately. I wouldn’t dream of asking people when they are going to get a better TV, newer shoes, a more expensive car, a bigger house, a more expensive handbag. Why is it that people feel the need to shame me about my phone?
It is to the point now that I may turn it off and turn it on only when I want to use it. It is becoming difficult for me to remain civil about this subject. I envision myself throwing it in the trash can next time someone asks. — LIKE THE OLD DAYS
A. ZARDOZ FEELS YOUR PAIN, BRUTAL. THE COMMUNICATIONS STRUGGLE IS REAL. JUST THE OTHER DAY, ZED WAS REGISTERING HIS COMPLAINT THAT HE STILL HAS AN OLD “RING COMMUNICATOR”.
“Tabernacle, may I get an upgrade?”
CANNOT THE SERVANTS OF THE VORTEX BE SATISFIED WITH BEING ABLE TO SPEAK WITH THE REPOSITORY OF ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE? NO, THEY WISH TO AMUSE THEMSELVES WITH “CANDY CRUSH” OR SUCH THINGS. THE SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM IS SIMPLE. NEXT TIME A BRUTAL ASKS ABOUT YOUR “PHONE” – GIVE IT TO THEM TO EXAMINE, AND CLEANSE THEM.
“You should try an iPhone.”
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
AND NOW, THE GIFT OF THE LINK!
ZARDOZ IS DISPLEASED. THIS SHOULD HAVE GONE TO THE VORTEX. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TRADE WAR (AS DISAPPOINTING AS THE LACK OF CLEANSING IN A SUPPOSED “WAR” HAS BEEN)?
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
STEVE SMITH GLAD IT CAMPING SEASON!
STEVE SMITH HAPPY SHARE POST WITH FRIEND ZARDOZ. HIM GIVE GOOD ADVICE. STEVE SMITH WANT GIVE ADVICE TOO! HIM LOOK AT SILLY “DEAR PRUDENCE“. HIM GIVE BETTER ADVICE. SO HERE ADVICE. FROM STEVE SMITH.
Q. When my wife and I first got together over four years ago, one of the things that we bonded over was our mutual enjoyment of pot. We were daily smokers, and I always thought of this shared interest as being a foundational part of our relationship. She began having some mental health issues and decided to stop smoking altogether. I had no interest in stopping, so I continued, but would just do it in the backyard at the end of the day. She was fine with this. When we started talking about having kids, she told me she did not think that pot had a place in the parenting of young children and that she would like me to cut back significantly when we became parents. Her ideal was none at all, but she agreed that it could be more like drinking alcohol—occasionally, not to excess, and not around the kids when they’re very small.
Now my wife is pregnant, and she wants me to quit smoking pot yesterday. She constantly brings up that I agreed to stop smoking when we became parents and that I’d better start cutting back now that she’s pregnant so that I won’t have to go cold turkey once the baby is born. I still don’t want to quit. It enriches my life, it makes me more even-keeled and laid-back (I used to be quite anxious and prone to anger before I started smoking), and I don’t see how these qualities could be bad for raising a child. I wouldn’t ever smoke around the kid, but she’s acting like taking pot every day is equivalent to parenting as an active alcoholic. I just don’t see it this way. Can I parent while also smoking pot? —Pregnant Minus Pot
A. STEVE SMITH WORRIED. HIM WORRIED THAT HOOMAN WHO “I always thought of this shared interest as being a foundational part of our relationship” NOW GOING HAVE KID. SHE CRAZY, YOU NOT SMART. ONLY ANSWER – STEVE SMITH ADOPT KID.
DON’T BABY LOOK HAPPY!
YOU GO BACK AND HAVE ALL MJ WANT. MAYBE WIFE GET HELP AND NOT BE CRAZY? IT ALL FOR THE BEST. STEVE SMITH AND STEVE JR. COME VISIT WHEN HIM OLDER.
How’s everyone today? I’m going to prison again tomorrow. Once again just visiting. It turns out that my outlaw father-in-law has cancer, so we’re going to see him again. Thanks to MS for covering for me on short notice yesterday afternoon. Things you shouldn’t say to your wife within two hours of her finding out her dad has cancer: “Well, at least we’re not in China, so they won’t harvest his organs until after they treat him”.
Accusing anyone of being the “mastermind” of the David Ortiz shooting is generous, but they arrested someone.
Despite all the fun Arby’s seems to be having, and how much I like the beef’n’cheddar, every time I go in there, I feel like I’m going back to the 80s and stay away for a while.
This guy says he’s had countless offers of marriage due to his fashion sense, unfortunately, they’re all 90 year olds.
Gregory Maguire – Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this book. Everything about it feels like it doesn’t resolve, but maybe it’s just a good reflection of life and the small role we play in it.
Currently working on Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, I’m not sure why I like post-Colonial/Indian diaspora literature as much as I do. I distinctly remember reading Roy’s first novel The God of Small Things years ago but couldn’t tell you the plot now. TMoUH reminds me a bit of Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children with long ambling digressions and personal stories inextricably tied to the historical moment of independence and the partitioning of India and Pakistan. Like MC, I am constantly flipping between getting lost in the daily moments of the characters and just wanting her to get to the fucking point.
OMWC
I have the Alpha and Omega of essay collections. Let’s start with Alpha, and it encompasses the startling fact that, once upon a time, Fran Lebowitz was actually funny. Yes, amazing. While unpacking boxes of books to be shelved in our new home, I ran across my copy of Social Studies, which was a birthday present given to me when I was in grad school (and admittedly had a bit of a crush on her). This was before she had her long period of writer’s blockade, and morphed into a shrieking harpy resembling Linda Hunt on a bad day. These essays are actually funny, self-deprecating, and showing some insight into the culture of the time. Nothing profound, mind you, but fun and amusing, reminiscent of a similar oeuvre of Robert Benchley forty years previous to this. If you see a remaindered or used copy, grab it.
The omega is my later-in-life idol, Jorge Luis Borges, who could do it all- novels, short stories, poems, and essays. A brilliant and profound talent, with an imagination that only comes once every few centuries. Being the dullard I am, I have been enjoying another book dug up in our move, Selected Nonfictions, which covers language, history, culture, literature, politics, art… well, everything, really. And in this collection is my single favorite Borges essay, “The Art of Verbal Abuse.” I bet you were thinking I’d pick, “I, a Jew,” you fucking anti-semite. But every essay in here is a gem, immaculately translated, and bursting with insight and beauty.,Don’t wait for a sale or remainder, just buy this. Now.
Staff: We asked JW to tell us about what he was reading, but we found him curled up, sobbing in a blanket fort with a flashlight and a dog-eared copy of Old Yeller and figured he’d get to it later.
SugarFree
I have continued my Lovecraft Mythos kick, reading both early Mythos contributors, especially those writing while Lovecraft was still alive: Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Edward Belknap Long, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth, Henry Kuttner; and Lovecraft’s self-identified influences, collected in H. P. Lovecraft’s Favorite Weird Tales: The Roots of Modern Horror, edited by Douglas A. Anderson. While familiar faces appear–Poe, Machen, Bierce–I enjoyed reading the more obscure authors like M. L. Humphreys, whose story in the collection, “The Floor Above” (1923), is the only story he or she ever published and oft-anthologized “The Night Wire” (1926) by H. F. Arnold, another lost author. (His or her only other two short stories have never been republished since they originally appeared in pulps.)
Swiss Servator
Beer list, wine list, spirits list, contract for work, contract for work, contract for work, continuing legal education, continuing legal education…wait here it is!
So the United Methodist district I live in is shriveling under the sweaty hand of the bishop who is ever so slightly to the left of Chairman Mao. She has packed the district with mini-mes. And this coterie of pudgy, earnest leftwing, 50-60 somethings are too engaged in various protests and public temper tantrums to conduct much of a church. So I went Protestant shopping. Just across the bean field from my house sits a Lutheran church. So I wandered over, went to a traditional service. Met the pastor later on and he gave me a copy of said book. I got homework. Man, these people are serious. But, I guess it is good to do some due diligence, so I am about 20-25% through right now. I get a bit wary of the “with Explanation” part, but that is just the libertarian in me, I guess.
As I am in the Commandments, and the basics still, I can’t say much about the more advanced points. Also, I have not been ordered to burn OMWC’s house yet. So I have that going for me.
I want a report on your initial excursions wearing the shirts. That could be a nice article.
You could have pictures of the shirts, and such. It’s time you Contributed, boy!
– CPRM
As you probably know by now, CPRM has a The Hat and The Hair merch store on CafePress, and, after heeding my advice, has opened one on Redbubble, too. I’ve been buying crap stuff from Redbubble over the last several months, and really like the scope/variety and quality of what they offer. It also helps that Redbubble is always having some kind of sale/online coupon (hint, hint). So, when his store went up, of course I was gonna buy something. And, that something was t-shirts.
I decided on the classic H&H design, as well as a Gropin’ Joe 2020 shirt. Redbubble has a lot of different styles of shirts for men/unisex, women, and kids. I always go with their ‘classic’ t-shirt, which is made using Gildan tees—medium weight with easy-to-remove tags. I can’t speak as to what the other styles use. Maybe you should go check them out and see what they offer.
The shirt color selection was the most difficult part of this process. I usually eschew lighter colors in t-shirts. However, the designs require a lighter background in order to see everything clearly—to really make ‘em pop! On top of this, I try to have some variety in my t-shirt collection, which I usually accomplish with t-shirts of various (dark) colors. Purple seemed to preview the H&H design well on the site, so, purple it was. I broke with my usual habit, and chose light blue for the Gropin’ Joe shirt. It just seemed so…correct. After a few button pushes, they were paid for, and all I had to do was wait for them to arrive.
In a mere eight days, it was mail call. Here’s the star of our show:
The Namesake
Here’s Joe—with a smile that just takes hold of you:
That smile….
An interesting fact about Redbubble’s shirts: They stink. I mean, the chemical smell is pretty strong. It’s a glue-like smell that’s from the manufacturing process. They even come with these little notes, attached by miniature clothes pins, that I could have sworn talked about the smell. I must be remembering something from an earlier order. Anyway, here are a couple of pics of those tags:
I thought it told you the shirts stink. Guess I was wrong.They sure know how to promote themselves.
They put these on each and every t-shirt in an order. Why? Make-ready work, I guess. In any event, it doesn’t seem very eco-friendly to me. I note this because Redbubble is an Aussie company, whose State-side presence is an office in San Francisco. They also include at least one company sticker in each order, although they sometimes put in several.
Zombie Pandas?A smattering of stickers
They are a quasi-nice little ‘extra’, and, I admit I look forward to seeing which ones I get. They seem to have a rather limited pool of designs from which they pick, so, the experience can be kind of ‘meh’. I have to admit that I’m not keen on “zombie pandas”; cute, or, gruesome, but not both. If I had my druthers, I would go with the quasi-The Quiet Earth design. They probably know this, and are just screwing with me. Now that the shirts have arrived, though, they need to be washed, air-dried, then put through a few “fluff” cycles (I am not a Philistine!), which will take the better part of a day.
Though all of this, CPRM’s words kept sounding in my brain: “It’s time you Contributed, boy!” Do a write-up of buying and wearing t-shirts. Not exactly Hunter S. Thompson territory, but I’d give it a shot. That led me to the question: Just where would I carry out this task? CPRM suggested that I go to a Starbucks –he’s such a kidder! If I did that, I probably wouldn’t stick around after getting my order, considering I even managed to find something worth giving them money. No, this was going to have to be somewhere where I would conceivably spend time productively, while surrounded by other humans, which also ruled out the DMV.
A fancy Target, apparently.
I figured that I might as well get some regular retail shopping done, and, this just happened to be the location of previous unexpected interactions with strangers (no changing rooms were involved, dammit). I considered the fact that it has a Starbuck’s inside only slightly ironic. “Slightly”, because it is a Target in Plano, Texas: an area where people seem to crave burnt, over-priced coffee. I’d have to swing a really big “dead cat” to find suitable alternatives, and, yes-I’m excluding McCafé.
The first associate that said “Hi” to me did seem to take a quick scan of my shirt, but nothing came of it. That would describe just about every interaction I had that day. Moms with their kids; busy clerks merchandising whatever section they happened to be in; wanderers like me. Some eye contact, and, maybe a quick scan of the shirt, but, no reactions. I shopped for about an hour and a half. Actually, it was mostly just wandering around and seeing if I could find anything worthwhile. I actually had a mission of sorts, that I will get to in the next section. While I probably missed out on a greater opportunity for chat by going to a self-checkout line, I did end up getting assistance from the poor guy who has to fix screw-ups (I scanned the wrong barcode on a sale item). Nada from him, too. Paid, and out the door, it was time for a quick stop at the booze shop.
Just use your imagination, people!
I didn’t even think of taking a picture of the store. Mostly because, I was on a mission to get the FIL a belated Father’s Day gift. It seems Amazon just up and lost track of it sometime over the holiday weekend, and, we didn’t find out until this particular day. As it was, we were headed up to see my In-laws the day after all of this, so, we would just take him some hooch. He is fond of a certain blackberry Merlot that I had introduced him to some years back, and I needed to stop at the only store I could find that carried it. It was a last-minute addition to my excursion, and it only barely registered with me that I might have an opportunity for explaining this cartoon president on my shirt. I needed help finding this back-water gem, and the clerk that drew the short straw with me was very helpful. I didn’t sense much interest in him, until just as we were parting company. I saw that he gave the shirt a scan (Hey! My eyes are up here!), when I thought I caught just the barest hint of a question forming about it. I guess he thought better about getting wrapped up in a conversation about a funny YouTube animated series. Your loss, Mr. alcohol-finder-helper-guy. A quick monetary exchange at the register—I couldn’t sense any curiosity in the cashier—and I was off to…
It’s some kind of thumb, I think.
I had to buy rice. It was as thrilling and lively as that sounds. Most of the shoppers were older folk. A couple of moms with kids. It was a big goose egg. Even the checkout clerk managed to avoid eye contact. So much for customer service, I guess. I went with Success Boil-in-bag rice, and, some Tony Chachere’s Chicken flavored rice, if you’re curious. Of course, I remembered to take a picture here, where there was no place that allowed for an unobstructed shot. After almost burning out my retinas in the noon sun, I was ready for my last stop.
Not just a partial Costco, you see.
While I had hoped that the Mecca of warehouse-club consumerism would be more fertile ground, I had become sort of pessimistic. The greeter/card-checker was pleasant enough, and, he did seem to look directly at the shirt for a good second. We exchanged “hellos”, and in I went. Damn; I thought he might jump. OK, I had my shopping list, and figured that I would take a sort of ‘hover/saunter’ approach. I would take my time making picks, in order to give others a chance to get a good look at the shirt. I would consider the area to be conservative, and, it wouldn’t be out of line to find some people that got a chuckle out of the design. Pork chops: check. Cherries and blueberries: check. USDA Prime tenderloin cuts: you better believe that’s a check. I was in my grocery element, trying to not be too obvious in flaunting my wardrobe choice. As it turns out, I wasn’t too obvious. At all. Even when I picked up a Costco rotisserie chicken, the guys in the back barely took notice of me. And, it was a glorious chicken, indeed.
Golden Brown Perfection
C’mon—the butcher/meat counter guys should be a prime demographic for a curious chuckle at the expense of The Hat and The Hair. Really? Did I need to wave them down? Tom Thumb meat counter dudes were always talkative; maybe Costco thought their people didn’t need to go that route when it came to cutting up meat for their customers? After what seemed like a Target amount of time wandering the store, I was ready to check out. They had self-checkout lines, which was new to me. Probably another poor choice on my part if I wanted human interaction, but I was curious to see if these were a good idea for Costco (they were/are). I had also come to not expect much conversation from these employees, due to the need to keep the lines moving. They had a screw-up fixer who hovered around the kiosks to watch for whatever evil might crop up in a Costco checkout line. He did a quick sweep by me, with some kind of greeting. I was actually concentrating on the process, as I didn’t bring my bags inside with me, and I was trying to calculate if I had enough room on the pressurized counter. It was awkward unloading a cart, just to load it back up the same way, but I got through the ordeal unscathed. On the way out, while passing the food court seating, I realized I was being stared at by a young guy who was aaalmost in the right league for the half-ugly blonde sitting next to him.
You eye-ballin’ me, son? ‘Cause I’ll whoop you like Patton for a-
Oh, right; the t-shirt! Actually, he was giving me a sort of half-sneer that could have either been aimed at me, or, the shirt. Maybe both; I’m sure I presented some sort of challenge to his sexual primacy, wearing this funky fresh example of CPRM’s cleverness. In hindsight, I really shouldn’t blame the guy. Hell, if I had to do it over again, I would have let him know that he could get his own H&H swag at www.redbubble.com/people/cprm It might actually make a man out of him.
And, that was that. I was finished with my excursion and needed to get home so I could unpack. It was pretty much a goose egg for me in this experiment. I just needed to record my observations and thoughts on the day. I arrived just before a shipment of some of the finest coffee around was delivered, which picked up my spirits immensely. I think the postal delivery lady scanned the shirt, but I can’t be sure—she was already smiling when we exchanged pleasantries. It was about this time that CPRM’s words crept up on me again: “wearing the shirts.” Right! I have a Gropin’ Joe t-shirt that the world hasn’t seen. Damn… Well, I’ll have to worry about that later.
Right now, I have a lunch date with a Costco rotisserie chicken.
We’re doing it again, Mexican Links! Let’s get this little guy out of the way…
Now that I have likely made the links page NSFW, lets get to the links!
While on his way to the G-20 summit, a member of Brazillian Trump’s entourage was detained in Spain for transporting 39 Kilos of cocaine–that’s 86 pounds for those of you with no conception of a kilo. No, Brett has nothing to do with this.
In an effort to show how stupid ideas are an international phenomenon; fashion designer Carolina Hererra is being accused of cultural appropriation in Mexico. Mexico, as in the Mexican government, not just randos on the Mexican Internet. Yes, they have the internet there.
I think libertarians (and normies of all political persuasions) need to admit to themselves that they have lost the culture wars, and that trying to refight battles over freedom of association, color-blind government and institutions, individualism not tribalism/collectivism, even the priority of objective reality over subjective “truth” is worse than pointless, it is counterproductive. We can wax nostalgic all we want for a Constitution enforced as written, etc., etc., but that’s all it is – nostalgia.
Face it: The crypto-Marxist Left’s long march through the institutions is over. They won. The commanding cultural heights belong to them – government, academia, media. The evolution of Marxism from economic class warfare to identity politics has been a smashing success, to the point where the long march has moved on from the cultural heights to the economic heights. Key infrastructure businesses are now implementing their agenda – banking, the big data and platform quasi-monopolies, ISPs, and misc. other businesses are purging dissenters not only from the public square, but from the marketplace as well. They are shooting the survivors, and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it, because they have the backing (enthusiastic support?) of the administrative state and judiciary.
We aren’t going back. The cultural DNA that formed the foundation of American civil society is being eradicated from the societal gene pool. The long march has given the Left a massive indoctrination and enforcement regime. Their hold on the cultural heights is heavily fortified and self-reinforcing. You can say “oh, its just a small, noisy minority”, but look at the trends: central cultural and government institutions are now under their control, we now have unprecedented support for socialism in this country, agency after agency and business after business are now pushing the Leftist agenda, a major political party is pushing the Leftist agenda, hard, in its Presidential nomination process, and its now non-Leftists, not Leftists, who are reluctant to go public with their beliefs.
There is no marginal, gradual, incremental reform that can be brought about through rational discourse that will end Leftism. They ruthlessly police entry into their institutions, so they can’t be subverted from within or even, increasingly, communicated with. Leftist institutions will have to collapse of their own weight and inherent flaws. There is no upside, no good reason to engage with the Left and their useful idiots.
Worse, engaging with the Left only reinforces their tribalist/collectivist mindset. By engaging with them, you confirm to them that there are still dissenters, so that, in their minds, they have enemies, there is an “other” that needs opposing. This is a key component of their group and individual identities. They define themselves by who they oppose; their identity is largely negative, not positive. Engaging with Leftists leads only to escalation and reinforcement of their beliefs.
Naturally, a form of the NAP applies here. If attacked by the Left, by all means defend yourself, if the attack merits a response. If not attacked by the Left, just ignore them. Disengage.
We aren’t going to retake the commanding cultural heights until these Leftist institutions collapse on their own. Unfortunately the damage they will inflict on society when this happens cannot be avoided. I think you can see the early symptoms of this collapse, at least in academia and the media, but these are old, powerful, wealthy institutions that will persist for a long time. There’s a lot of ruin in a nation, as they say, and I fear we may just see how much ruin there is in the wealthiest, most powerful nation to ever exist.
I think non-Leftists have three tasks before them:
(1) Figure out how we lost, and how the Left won. We won’t get anywhere fighting with strategy and tactics that are proven losers.
(2) Prepare for the damage the inevitable collapse the Leftist institutions will bring. They won’t go down easy, and because the Left is inherently negative and oppositional, they will lash out. Figure out how to avoid/mitigate the damage. Disengagement, where possible, seems like a no brainer. Scrubbing your social media (if you don’t just leave), minimizing your participation in the data cattle industry, avoiding anything to do with academia all seem like good defensive measures.
Of course, the administrative state is much harder to disengage from. But make no mistake, the odds are that in most of our lifetimes, the current US government will suffer a catastrophic failure and will be, what’s the phrase? Oh, yeah, “fundamentally transformed”.
The cultural glue that held the United States together is being systematically removed, and no replacement is on offer. Why do you think there is a relentless push for a fragmented, tribalistic, “diverse”, “multicultural” country? Because the Total State will fill the vacuum left by the absence of a shared culture. The fundamental transformation may initially be “Everything for the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.” But I believe their Total State is doomed, that the United States is ungovernable without a significant degree of consent from its citizens.
(3) Start developing what will replace the collapsed institutions. What stands a chance of replacing the collapsed institutions that will be more resistant to the Left’s tribalist/collectivist virus? What kind of fundamentally transformed society do you want to live in? Because you will live in one, like it or not.
As the title says, this is a pessimistic assessment, which comes easily to me. If anyone wants to put up an optimistic assessment, I would love to have my mind changed.
Do not adjust your set, it is indeed SP up at the crack of 0dark:30 to cover links for you fine folks. And the rest of you, too. I am nothing if not dedicated to the happiness (and/or snarkiness) of the Glibs!
We’ve got a weekend house party kicking off around lunchtime today. This includes many humans (purported humans?) I have never met IRL. Should be a blast, but it means I’ve been busy provisioning, and configuring sleeping quarters, and all such like that there. And there is still more to do, so this will be brief.
Welp, judging from the comments on the most excellent Episode 18 of CPRM’s animated Hat & Hair, many of you watched Round 1 of the Dems’ debate last night. In case you missed it, or just didn’t care, like me, check out the highlights here. Cripes, I just realized there is another round tonight. We shall be entertaining, so probably won’t see that one either.
Remember that fire at Notre Dame Cathedral? Probably not arson.
Keep an eye on the Supremes today. Could be interesting.
Australian possibly detained in North Korea. “[Sigley] told Australian Broadcasting Corp. two years ago that he wanted to break down negative stereotypes about the country. “If we thought it was unsafe, we would stop doing these tours,” Sigley said. “We wouldn’t be able to bear the moral and legal responsibility of bringing people to North Korea if it was dangerous.” How’s that working out for you, bro?
Okey dokey, I’m outta here. Enjoy your day, friends! We sure will!
