Hands down the best commentary I've read describing the current political situation and how to respond to it - many thanks- will be revisiting this one often
Mike, your exceptional article was so important to hear at this time when there is a daily assault on our: coveted rule of law; our institutions of higher learning; and the progress our country has made to guarantee our individual rights and freedoms. It has been difficult to comprehend because it is so contrary to what I view as our political norms. My mind is so aware of the history of this country with wars and human sacrifices to save democracy. How can “anyone” ignore it all. How can “anyone” wish to see our country different than it is (now was), one of the wealthiest, most generous and respected nations in the world. It was clear where Trump was going during his first inaugural speech when he claimed “America First!” That was chilling but now it is horrific as we see “Trump and only Trump” actions.
Congratulations and amen, Mike. You, sir, are in rare air with this wonderfully insightful piece. Connecting our individual temporality to the long rising arc of our collective history and identity, to our societal consciousness and our search for existential meaning and purpose as a cooperative species - all within the framework of democracy, humanity’s best answer yet to violence, destruction and chaos - is the greatest philosophical and dialectical challenge of our age. So glad you’re out there shining intellectual light on the demons that would devour our democracy, helping us see more clearly in the gathering gloom. I will be sending your piece hither and yon…
In the meantime, please check out this poem, “Breathing Under Water,” by Carol Bieleck. About our interconnectedness to each other, to all of life…
“I built my house by the sea.
Not on the sands, mind you; not on the shifting sand.
And I built it of rock.
A strong house
by a strong sea.
And we got well acquainted, the sea and I.
Good neighbors.
Not that we spoke much.
We met in silences.
Respectful, keeping our distance,
but looking our thoughts across the fence of sand.
Always, the fence of sand our barrier,
always, the sand between.
And then one day,
--and I still don't know how it happened--
the sea came.
Without warning.
Without welcome, even
Not sudden and swift, but a shifting across the sand
like wine,
less like the flow of water than the flow of blood.
Slow, but flowing like an open wound.
And I thought of flight and I thought of drowning and I thought of death.
And while I thought the sea crept higher, till it reached my door.
And I knew then, there was neither flight, nor death, nor drowning.
That when the sea comes calling you stop being neighbors
Well acquainted, friendly-at-a-distance, neighbors
This is a great nutshell version - thanks. It feels a little like Groundhog Day, given the shenanigans going on at the time of writing the Constitution and subsequent peaks of awareness. Isn't it time we pulled the rug on this crap? So long as we provide the system that builds oligarchs, this will continue to haunt us. People are dazzled to learn that the original production and trade systems were public utilities. Let's get back on track! Five thousand years of misery is quite enough - right?
This is a fantastic piece, but I really believe there is s a difference between natural persons and corporate persons.
When we watch the attention economy tethered to access journalism, controlled by ever increasingly cornered media markets, besieged by Bannon's "flood the zone" technique, we have to acknowledge there is a fundamental difference between the social contract of "the coalition of the willing to lose," and the public/private partnership with "too big to fail."
The concept of corporate personhood seems to be a gentleman's agreement to let a government of the natural people, by the natural people, for the natural people, to perish from the earth without a fight.
Hands down the best commentary I've read describing the current political situation and how to respond to it - many thanks- will be revisiting this one often
Mike, your exceptional article was so important to hear at this time when there is a daily assault on our: coveted rule of law; our institutions of higher learning; and the progress our country has made to guarantee our individual rights and freedoms. It has been difficult to comprehend because it is so contrary to what I view as our political norms. My mind is so aware of the history of this country with wars and human sacrifices to save democracy. How can “anyone” ignore it all. How can “anyone” wish to see our country different than it is (now was), one of the wealthiest, most generous and respected nations in the world. It was clear where Trump was going during his first inaugural speech when he claimed “America First!” That was chilling but now it is horrific as we see “Trump and only Trump” actions.
Congratulations and amen, Mike. You, sir, are in rare air with this wonderfully insightful piece. Connecting our individual temporality to the long rising arc of our collective history and identity, to our societal consciousness and our search for existential meaning and purpose as a cooperative species - all within the framework of democracy, humanity’s best answer yet to violence, destruction and chaos - is the greatest philosophical and dialectical challenge of our age. So glad you’re out there shining intellectual light on the demons that would devour our democracy, helping us see more clearly in the gathering gloom. I will be sending your piece hither and yon…
In the meantime, please check out this poem, “Breathing Under Water,” by Carol Bieleck. About our interconnectedness to each other, to all of life…
“I built my house by the sea.
Not on the sands, mind you; not on the shifting sand.
And I built it of rock.
A strong house
by a strong sea.
And we got well acquainted, the sea and I.
Good neighbors.
Not that we spoke much.
We met in silences.
Respectful, keeping our distance,
but looking our thoughts across the fence of sand.
Always, the fence of sand our barrier,
always, the sand between.
And then one day,
--and I still don't know how it happened--
the sea came.
Without warning.
Without welcome, even
Not sudden and swift, but a shifting across the sand
like wine,
less like the flow of water than the flow of blood.
Slow, but flowing like an open wound.
And I thought of flight and I thought of drowning and I thought of death.
And while I thought the sea crept higher, till it reached my door.
And I knew then, there was neither flight, nor death, nor drowning.
That when the sea comes calling you stop being neighbors
Well acquainted, friendly-at-a-distance, neighbors
And you give your house for a coral castle,
And you learn to breathe underwater.”
Thank you!❤️ Sister Carol. Her book of poetry, “Coral Castles”❤️
❤️
This is a great nutshell version - thanks. It feels a little like Groundhog Day, given the shenanigans going on at the time of writing the Constitution and subsequent peaks of awareness. Isn't it time we pulled the rug on this crap? So long as we provide the system that builds oligarchs, this will continue to haunt us. People are dazzled to learn that the original production and trade systems were public utilities. Let's get back on track! Five thousand years of misery is quite enough - right?
This is a fantastic piece, but I really believe there is s a difference between natural persons and corporate persons.
When we watch the attention economy tethered to access journalism, controlled by ever increasingly cornered media markets, besieged by Bannon's "flood the zone" technique, we have to acknowledge there is a fundamental difference between the social contract of "the coalition of the willing to lose," and the public/private partnership with "too big to fail."
The concept of corporate personhood seems to be a gentleman's agreement to let a government of the natural people, by the natural people, for the natural people, to perish from the earth without a fight.
Again, Mike your work needs to be the headline, space, opinion piece in every major newspaper and magazine!
Thank you❤️
The BAD FAITH ACTORS?
A TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL NETWORK that has now infiltrated government.
Yes, we had true, loyal, “men of good will” in government. Democracy depends on it.