Well. I just finished watching the episode on authoritarianism. It was pretty scary and frustrating to hear some of the people who support these things, as it usually is. I think John Oliver summed it up pretty well at the end. Saying how he understands that democracy can be frustrating with all the checks and balances but that removing those opens up the door for things that are much worse. These people really need to understand exactly what they are toying with.
Unfortunately people have a hard time seeing much further than the tip of their own noses and don't see the harm that they are causing as long as it doesn't directly affect them, which it won't until it is too late and the damage has been done.
I think the the problem we are having these days is an empathy problem. People have a really hard time feeling empathy for "others" and who can really blame them? There is so much wrong everywhere you look and everybody is struggling. Everybody is trying to survive and look out for their loved ones just like everybody else but they've been sold lies, given scapegoats and promised solutions to fictional problems.
Whatever happens next, it'll be interesting that's for sure.
really need to understand exactly what they are toying with
They do not. They will not. They refuse to contemplate doing so - they want a fix NOW and that is all that they will entertain.
And actually, very often they DO have empathy - their hearts are quite often in the right place, it is their set of FACTS that they believe in that are incorrect. e.g. people who take the vaccine b/c they do not want it? Fine, I mean it is not ideal but it is your choice... but then they send their kids to school and that affects immuno-compromised children, and far more than that, they vote sometimes against allowing you to take the vaccine too!!
Or abortion: if you do not want one then do not get one, but to stop others from receiving proper medical care? That is the sickening part. They do it "for the children", except ofc refuse to lift a finger to actually adopt a child themselves.
So often those lies are sold using empathy as the very vehicle by which they enter the brain. Except ofc it is not "true empathy", in the sense of actions and especially for those actions to match the words used.
The people choosing those lies are quite good at what they do, actually. And if they fail, they focus-test their messages and try again, and again, and they've been doing this for decades now so... they got good at it. And since I don't really see anyone at all standing up against it - I mean, is Biden? did Obama? is Trudeau, or Sunak? - I think they have a good chance of winning. It is just a matter of time.
Either way, outside of Europe and especially Germany, I do not see people standing up to climate change. More than nuclear weapons, THAT has the potential to end all life on earth - or at least human and possibly most of the animal life as well. The true "Pro-Life" agenda would be to do whatever it takes to stop that... but instead, Trump spitefully withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, just b/c Obama supported it. Biden put us back in it, on his very first day in office actually, but that's a lot of time lost, and there's a goodly chance at Trump winning again.
All this bipolar disorder, coupled with the lackluster performance even when conservatives do not win, has made me lose all faith in the democratic processes. Just like George Carlin in the past, except now it REALLY matters which side wins!! :-|
So yeah, I expect a bumpy and quite... "interesting" ride. Even in Canada, most likely, though as you say on a delayed basis.
Therefore I watch videos on how chocolate is made, and I recycle even though I know it will not make one tiniest difference, etc. It is something that I can do, therefore I offer that, at least.
Well. I just finished watching the episode on authoritarianism. It was pretty scary and frustrating to hear some of the people who support these things, as it usually is. I think John Oliver summed it up pretty well at the end. Saying how he understands that democracy can be frustrating with all the checks and balances but that removing those opens up the door for things that are much worse. These people really need to understand exactly what they are toying with.
Unfortunately people have a hard time seeing much further than the tip of their own noses and don't see the harm that they are causing as long as it doesn't directly affect them, which it won't until it is too late and the damage has been done.
I think the the problem we are having these days is an empathy problem. People have a really hard time feeling empathy for "others" and who can really blame them? There is so much wrong everywhere you look and everybody is struggling. Everybody is trying to survive and look out for their loved ones just like everybody else but they've been sold lies, given scapegoats and promised solutions to fictional problems.
Whatever happens next, it'll be interesting that's for sure.
They do not. They will not. They refuse to contemplate doing so - they want a fix NOW and that is all that they will entertain.
And actually, very often they DO have empathy - their hearts are quite often in the right place, it is their set of FACTS that they believe in that are incorrect. e.g. people who take the vaccine b/c they do not want it? Fine, I mean it is not ideal but it is your choice... but then they send their kids to school and that affects immuno-compromised children, and far more than that, they vote sometimes against allowing you to take the vaccine too!!
Or abortion: if you do not want one then do not get one, but to stop others from receiving proper medical care? That is the sickening part. They do it "for the children", except ofc refuse to lift a finger to actually adopt a child themselves.
So often those lies are sold using empathy as the very vehicle by which they enter the brain. Except ofc it is not "true empathy", in the sense of actions and especially for those actions to match the words used.
The people choosing those lies are quite good at what they do, actually. And if they fail, they focus-test their messages and try again, and again, and they've been doing this for decades now so... they got good at it. And since I don't really see anyone at all standing up against it - I mean, is Biden? did Obama? is Trudeau, or Sunak? - I think they have a good chance of winning. It is just a matter of time.
Either way, outside of Europe and especially Germany, I do not see people standing up to climate change. More than nuclear weapons, THAT has the potential to end all life on earth - or at least human and possibly most of the animal life as well. The true "Pro-Life" agenda would be to do whatever it takes to stop that... but instead, Trump spitefully withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, just b/c Obama supported it. Biden put us back in it, on his very first day in office actually, but that's a lot of time lost, and there's a goodly chance at Trump winning again.
All this bipolar disorder, coupled with the lackluster performance even when conservatives do not win, has made me lose all faith in the democratic processes. Just like George Carlin in the past, except now it REALLY matters which side wins!! :-|
So yeah, I expect a bumpy and quite... "interesting" ride. Even in Canada, most likely, though as you say on a delayed basis.
Therefore I watch videos on how chocolate is made, and I recycle even though I know it will not make one tiniest difference, etc. It is something that I can do, therefore I offer that, at least.