Beth, when I read your post, I feel like I am sitting at the kitchen table talking with you. (I respond to you in my head, ha). The way you express yourself ticks all the same boxes that rattle around in my head. I grew up in a tiny town in Arkansas, my teenage years were in the 60's. Integration was begun my senior year, and one brave girl came across town and attended school in our class. I think back on how much she invested to do that, and I hate that we did not treat her better, we were not mean to her in a overt way - we just avoided her. Blacks were on one side of town and whites on the other. It was the so called normal.
(from AI) "Yes, some schools in Arkansas did not fully integrate until 1968, despite the Supreme Court's ruling in 1954 that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The process of desegregation faced significant resistance, and many schools delayed integration for years."
In fall of 69 I attended college, I would guess of the 68 seniors who graduated in 1968, about half went to college, and most of them moved back home later and now are part of this maga movement. I still don't know what it was about me that kept me from falling into the maga trap, I wasn't that smart, I grew up with all of these people, I attended a small state funded university. I cannot figure out what it is about me that saved me. That said, when you write about trying to change their minds and to no avail, believe me I understand. These magas have dug in, it is a form of cult, maybe someone will spell out exactly how it has happened, but some of it I understand. Much is part of a long time plan put in place by a religious organization called Dominionism - "It teaches that American Christians have been mandated by God to make America a Christian state" from a book written by Chris Hedges called American Fascism. I highly recommend his book, it opened my eyes to exactly how the creators of Project 2025 have taken hold of our government. Chris wrote this book of warning in 2004.
This is already too long, so I will end, but one thing I want to throw out here; regarding Musk and people always talking about how smart he is, genius they say. I have known personally 4 people in my life that had IQ's over 165, two in the high 60's and two in the mid 80's. I knew them all very well. Two I counseled in a drug rehab center who both had many bouts with the law and of course, drugs and alcohol, they were unable to conform to fit into society. The other two, one I dated and the other was my aunt, and same, they were smart but did not fit into society, they were both outsiders. So this notion the Elon Musk has something over us because of a test he took, is also misleading, people with such high iq's are sometimes worse off than us normies, ha! I will leave it at that. Thanks so much for your writings, I love to read your thoughts, it really helps! My Best, jimmieanna
What we are up against is terrifying, I am sure some of the damage being done will never be turned around, we are being systematically torn apart. It will require much due diligance to maintain even some of it. Ralph Nadar (91 now) thinks trump will self destruct because he knows no boundaries, he says we will see the unraveling of trump in the coming weeks. (taken from an interview he did last week. I don't know if that will happen that soon, but I do hope Ralph is correct, but that won't fix much, it will help,, but trump is a symptom of a much greater problem.
What a thoughtful comment. Thank you. I'm grateful that you appreciate my work. It means a lot to me. I hope to give my readers even a moment of transcendence and connection. I also appreciate you sharing your experience.
I think we all have things we can look back on and wish we'd reacted differently--or maybe acted in a way that made more of a difference. Especially in the South, we grew up with people who are now MAGA. It's still shocking to me--but not about some of them who always had closed minds. How you describe yourself tells me your mind was and is open. Perhaps, that's the difference.
I know about Dominionism, but I need to read Chris Hedges' book. Thanks for that! I hope Nader is right, but I fear he's not.
I hope we aren't burdened with 4 years of this national train wreck. It will take so much time and energy and good will to pick up our pieces when it's done. What will the new world be?
Thanks again. Please keep commenting. Let's keep the conversation going!
Trump is like Mr. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life. He will never be happy, and he wants all of us to feel the way he feels. Elon Musk is in the same mold. They are horrors, but the true horror is the Americans who admire their cruelty so they can feel superior. These are dark days. The SOTU showed how demoralized and disorganized the opposition is. I hope we can come together with a firm and organized response. So far, the closest I have seen us come is Pete Buttigieg. Take care, Beth. xo.
I agree. Pete Buttigieg is focused, knows how to lead. Adam Kinzinger is hammering away at Trump and company. Kinzinger saw in great detail what Trump did on January 6th and the actions leading up to it. Good for him. Liz Cheney continues to stand up to them as well. Both Republicans. Or are they now ? Both are true to their integrity and are defending the Constitution. The Democrats? How many of them voted to censure Rep. Al Green? Shame on them. The Democrats continue to fail.
Beth, when I read your post, I feel like I am sitting at the kitchen table talking with you. (I respond to you in my head, ha). The way you express yourself ticks all the same boxes that rattle around in my head. I grew up in a tiny town in Arkansas, my teenage years were in the 60's. Integration was begun my senior year, and one brave girl came across town and attended school in our class. I think back on how much she invested to do that, and I hate that we did not treat her better, we were not mean to her in a overt way - we just avoided her. Blacks were on one side of town and whites on the other. It was the so called normal.
(from AI) "Yes, some schools in Arkansas did not fully integrate until 1968, despite the Supreme Court's ruling in 1954 that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The process of desegregation faced significant resistance, and many schools delayed integration for years."
In fall of 69 I attended college, I would guess of the 68 seniors who graduated in 1968, about half went to college, and most of them moved back home later and now are part of this maga movement. I still don't know what it was about me that kept me from falling into the maga trap, I wasn't that smart, I grew up with all of these people, I attended a small state funded university. I cannot figure out what it is about me that saved me. That said, when you write about trying to change their minds and to no avail, believe me I understand. These magas have dug in, it is a form of cult, maybe someone will spell out exactly how it has happened, but some of it I understand. Much is part of a long time plan put in place by a religious organization called Dominionism - "It teaches that American Christians have been mandated by God to make America a Christian state" from a book written by Chris Hedges called American Fascism. I highly recommend his book, it opened my eyes to exactly how the creators of Project 2025 have taken hold of our government. Chris wrote this book of warning in 2004.
This is already too long, so I will end, but one thing I want to throw out here; regarding Musk and people always talking about how smart he is, genius they say. I have known personally 4 people in my life that had IQ's over 165, two in the high 60's and two in the mid 80's. I knew them all very well. Two I counseled in a drug rehab center who both had many bouts with the law and of course, drugs and alcohol, they were unable to conform to fit into society. The other two, one I dated and the other was my aunt, and same, they were smart but did not fit into society, they were both outsiders. So this notion the Elon Musk has something over us because of a test he took, is also misleading, people with such high iq's are sometimes worse off than us normies, ha! I will leave it at that. Thanks so much for your writings, I love to read your thoughts, it really helps! My Best, jimmieanna
What we are up against is terrifying, I am sure some of the damage being done will never be turned around, we are being systematically torn apart. It will require much due diligance to maintain even some of it. Ralph Nadar (91 now) thinks trump will self destruct because he knows no boundaries, he says we will see the unraveling of trump in the coming weeks. (taken from an interview he did last week. I don't know if that will happen that soon, but I do hope Ralph is correct, but that won't fix much, it will help,, but trump is a symptom of a much greater problem.
Hey, Jimmieanna,
What a thoughtful comment. Thank you. I'm grateful that you appreciate my work. It means a lot to me. I hope to give my readers even a moment of transcendence and connection. I also appreciate you sharing your experience.
I think we all have things we can look back on and wish we'd reacted differently--or maybe acted in a way that made more of a difference. Especially in the South, we grew up with people who are now MAGA. It's still shocking to me--but not about some of them who always had closed minds. How you describe yourself tells me your mind was and is open. Perhaps, that's the difference.
I know about Dominionism, but I need to read Chris Hedges' book. Thanks for that! I hope Nader is right, but I fear he's not.
I hope we aren't burdened with 4 years of this national train wreck. It will take so much time and energy and good will to pick up our pieces when it's done. What will the new world be?
Thanks again. Please keep commenting. Let's keep the conversation going!
Trump is like Mr. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life. He will never be happy, and he wants all of us to feel the way he feels. Elon Musk is in the same mold. They are horrors, but the true horror is the Americans who admire their cruelty so they can feel superior. These are dark days. The SOTU showed how demoralized and disorganized the opposition is. I hope we can come together with a firm and organized response. So far, the closest I have seen us come is Pete Buttigieg. Take care, Beth. xo.
I agree. Pete Buttigieg is focused, knows how to lead. Adam Kinzinger is hammering away at Trump and company. Kinzinger saw in great detail what Trump did on January 6th and the actions leading up to it. Good for him. Liz Cheney continues to stand up to them as well. Both Republicans. Or are they now ? Both are true to their integrity and are defending the Constitution. The Democrats? How many of them voted to censure Rep. Al Green? Shame on them. The Democrats continue to fail.