A serious question. If there was a time for a truth and reconciliation committee, I would hope for that. But we have so many firmly committed to the "I am right" position despite evidence they are quite wrong.
There are so many things in society that seem way out of whack. Health care is one where service costs have exploded, professional providers have largely become employees to avoid malpractice claims. Health insurance not a particularly lucrative business but blamed. As we developed Obamacare, I saw many analyses of approaches to national care none of which analyzed the costs behind the options. And none addressed the reasons we require so much more care than other places.
Then the educational system where despite pouring money at secondary education we turn out less and less capable students. Or higher education where costs have exploded leaving students in horrible debt without any real capability to easily amortize that debt. Those that enter trades, on average, are better off.
So on to the stunning election of an impossible President followed by the most concerted effort in history to remove him. That followed by the oddest election in 2020 where few really believed it honest; any irregularities are studiously dismissed leading a group of people wanting the Congress to charter an investigation to protest. And a protest that turned a crowd into a mob because of security failures followed by the largest manhunt in history to locate and prosecute any who were there. Then the indefinite detention of many where pleading lead to quite harsh punishment. Yet Congress exercises no oversight in obvious system abuses while claiming a fair investigation of the event and it's causes without digging into the obvious failings of security.
Then we have the inability to examine worldwide group think in the pandemic response which led to abuses of the citizens, along with a huge economic impact. And now we see the government extending that abuse for the good of the people in silencing anybody who tried to question the response. The controls we thought to control "the end justifying the means" were gone and few spoke out. The damages in the excess death count have yet to be fully realized.
Keep writing. We need more and continued reflections. Perhaps the truth can arrive.
Yes, we need to keep doing what we're doing: talking, writing, reading, debating, agreeing and disagreeing in good faith, stress-testing ideas.
I had not read the last few chapters of Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer" until yesterday. What I get from those last few chapters is that he would approve. Doing all that talking and sharing matters.
For me it lets me know I'm not the only one. I very much dislike being ruled by fear. As a smaller kid who skipped a grade in school, I can recall being bullied. I just refused to stop fighting back, stubborn or stupid I guess, but the bullies stopped.
So, where to escape indeed? For the moment, the western Slavic countries seem to be as good as it gets. That has been my experience At the very least, there is virtually none of the government-promoted racism or gender perversion.
Separately: May those Western Slavs and Eastern Slavs start cutting some deals with each other after the midterm elections and secure an enduring peace. They don't all have to love each other, but we all have to live with each other!
A serious question. If there was a time for a truth and reconciliation committee, I would hope for that. But we have so many firmly committed to the "I am right" position despite evidence they are quite wrong.
There are so many things in society that seem way out of whack. Health care is one where service costs have exploded, professional providers have largely become employees to avoid malpractice claims. Health insurance not a particularly lucrative business but blamed. As we developed Obamacare, I saw many analyses of approaches to national care none of which analyzed the costs behind the options. And none addressed the reasons we require so much more care than other places.
Then the educational system where despite pouring money at secondary education we turn out less and less capable students. Or higher education where costs have exploded leaving students in horrible debt without any real capability to easily amortize that debt. Those that enter trades, on average, are better off.
So on to the stunning election of an impossible President followed by the most concerted effort in history to remove him. That followed by the oddest election in 2020 where few really believed it honest; any irregularities are studiously dismissed leading a group of people wanting the Congress to charter an investigation to protest. And a protest that turned a crowd into a mob because of security failures followed by the largest manhunt in history to locate and prosecute any who were there. Then the indefinite detention of many where pleading lead to quite harsh punishment. Yet Congress exercises no oversight in obvious system abuses while claiming a fair investigation of the event and it's causes without digging into the obvious failings of security.
Then we have the inability to examine worldwide group think in the pandemic response which led to abuses of the citizens, along with a huge economic impact. And now we see the government extending that abuse for the good of the people in silencing anybody who tried to question the response. The controls we thought to control "the end justifying the means" were gone and few spoke out. The damages in the excess death count have yet to be fully realized.
Keep writing. We need more and continued reflections. Perhaps the truth can arrive.
Many thanks, brother.
Yes, we need to keep doing what we're doing: talking, writing, reading, debating, agreeing and disagreeing in good faith, stress-testing ideas.
I had not read the last few chapters of Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer" until yesterday. What I get from those last few chapters is that he would approve. Doing all that talking and sharing matters.
For me it lets me know I'm not the only one. I very much dislike being ruled by fear. As a smaller kid who skipped a grade in school, I can recall being bullied. I just refused to stop fighting back, stubborn or stupid I guess, but the bullies stopped.
So, where to escape indeed? For the moment, the western Slavic countries seem to be as good as it gets. That has been my experience At the very least, there is virtually none of the government-promoted racism or gender perversion.
Separately: May those Western Slavs and Eastern Slavs start cutting some deals with each other after the midterm elections and secure an enduring peace. They don't all have to love each other, but we all have to live with each other!