Your Friendly Neighborhood Amoeba says:
After two years of evaluating the evidence, the conclusion is well supported. We the People of these Untied States of America love fake news, scientific and social ignorance, rampant militant nationalism, racism, sexism, and xenophobia, and are pleased to have these things be the public face of Our nation.
All noise to the contrary is just that. Noise. Empty, meaningless, useless, self-gratifying noise.
And after we have made that noise, we are content, if not excited, to follow in the footsteps of our true mentors, our true paragons.
Many ordinary Nazi German citizens tut-tutted at the intemperate excesses of their government, expressed their private condolences to their Jewish neighbors. The Jews were exterminated all the same, while their neighbors pocketed their Reichsmarks.
Only money truly talks. And We are handing the perpetrators of Our current national image money, hand over fist. Which means We love them. In the only term$ that matter. We are pleased to let them tell the world, “This is who We really are.” As if the world needed Our proclamation to grasp this reality. If We truly thought otherwise, if Our noise was anything more than noise, then We would be withholding Our money. Hah!
And …
we are prepared to vote for more of the same.
Speaking of the propaganda that we so obviously favor, having completely forgotten the lessons of 2008, never mind 1929 … (Yes, you guessed it, dear reader. The comments on the post linked to in this paragraph run consistently along the same vein, namely How dare the government interfere in business, and isn’t it grand that we now have cronies in the White House that will do our … what? What?!!? Oh, um, ooops.)
Even the lemmings knew better.
Harsh …?
Your Friendly Neighborhood Amoeba had previously had no idea that the rolling coal phenomenon exists in Hawai‘i. Surely, the dirt and aggro of this behavior runs counter to the much-ballyhooed ‘spirit of aloha’ of these islands, and this, plus the high cost of diesel, would prevent coal from ever being rolled here.
Alas, YFNA learned differently during the run-up [heh] to the recent Ironman World [sic] Championship competition. On one of the few side roads available on the Kona side of the Big Island for training, a group of racers, with their support vehicle, was slowing and partially blocking traffic. A pickup truck with tall stacks was behind the group, and clearly was unhappy with its presence, the road being just hilly enough to severely limit the opportunities for safe passing. When such an opportunity finally arose, the truck roared by – and coal-blasted the group as it did so.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for YFNA to perceive any logical or emotional justification, by any Citizen of the United States of America, for a claim of self-esteem, of any type or degree. The USA, the greediest, most resource-profligate society in the history of planet Earth, owes the world a living, not the reverse. The sooner the USA recognizes this, the better the already-slim chances that the world will not turn it away when winter comes. And winter is coming.
We have fallen so far. I’m afraid we’re doomed.
Time and again, prophets of doom have been proven wrong, or at least to have overstated the case. But there appears to be ample cause for alarm.