Beau of the Fifth Column in one of his latest videos, tells of a letter he got from a schoolgirl who described herself as “a blue dot in a red state” (Texas), surrounded by what sounds like reactionary fools who keep calling her a Communist just because she wears a mask to school.
This made me think of anomalies from whatever environments, who seem able to move independently from whatever prevailing environmental and cultural pressures they have to endure. I understand how most people are wired to go along to get along, go down the blind faith alley, are susceptible to being herded by the devious, but I’m not entirely sure about what lies behind the kind of individual (integrous) thinking that girl displays.
I’m curious how others got to this place. Here. I’d always assumed that some hardship was the initial cause.
There are a lot of blue dots in red spaces, and vice versa, as well as grey dots or blank dots.
Political alignments, like all grouping in communities, involve a lot of agreeing to disagree and just overlooking crazy or reprehensible ideas and behavior. Plenty of people like to define themselves in independence from or in rebellion against some “other” near or far. Social media engineers did not have to venture far to know that people like to have their prejudices confirmed and their moral outrage buttons pushed.
Truly “independent” minds not-belonging-to-psychopaths are fairly rare, but righteous minds nurtured by healthy, supportive communities can be numerous, if communities exist — but even those communities give rise to pathology as well.
I would worry that a blue dot afloat on an ocean of social media would believe a lot of things that ain’t so, just as red dots allegedly do.
I spent several hours this morning in a retrospective look at Russiagate, trying to see what happened to the lies and lying liars.
Mostly, it just gave me a headache. So many propaganda tricks — implying without asserting let alone proving alongside baseless speculation at every twist and turn (while spinning out twists and turns).
I think I believe the Russian state hacked the DCCC, DNC and Podesta, mostly because Mueller seemed pretty sure the Russians setup DCLeaks. (Of course, Seth Rich is still dead.)
Beyond that, it just seems like a madness that sets in after the whole political system has been in denial of reality for so long a further psychotic break seems normal and no one notices a speed bump on the road to perdition.
I’m curious how others got to this place. Here. I’d always assumed that some hardship was the initial cause.
That sounds about right. Umberto Eco nailed it when he said
“Losers, like autodidacts, always know much more than winners. If you want to win, you need to know just one thing and not waste your time on anything else: the pleasures of erudition are reserved for losers. The more a person knows, the more things have gone wrong.”
In my experience people who’ve learned to think independently were usually pushed in that direction by life circumstances that forced them to question the conventional wisdom that the majority of their peers simply accepted as default reality.
However, the girl in your example “who described herself as “a blue dot in a red state”” already identifies with one of America’s two influential political tribes so her take on masking isn’t exactly radical. She could have it up from her parents or by watching CNN.
Her vocalizing a “blue” opinion in territory that’s controlled by the other tribe, which is very paranoid and irrational about wearing a mask during a pandemic, does take some courage but if she moved to a “blue” state there would be nothing at all unusual about her stance.
A hypothetical person living in NYC who describes himself as a “red dot in a blue sea” and repeats a boilerplate right wing opinion that he picked up from watching Fox News is also acting courageously in that same limited sense.
Voicing an opinion, even if it isn’t popular in the area in which you happen to live, that is promoted by a major political party in your country does not in itself make you an independent or nuanced thinker.
From the minimal information we are given about this individual it is impossible to tell how independent, or courageous, her overall thinking is.
the only “tribe” one should be attempting to join when wearing a mask (if they work, since so much debate and “studies” have occurred on either side of the question) is the tribe of people who don’t catch the virus.
adversity might be one of the things that makes one think differently. it seems to be so in my own case. early on i learned that almost all authority was bunk, and based upon some iteration of “might makes right”. it’s been a downhill intellectual slide ever since.
I just realized that I have been seeing a fair amount of propaganda lately trying to normalize an expectation of war: 1.) Ukraine; 2.) Taiwan. I have been dismissing both in my mind, but I do not know who is really in charge in the “Biden” Administration or how they think.
It has been an ironic cliche to refer off-handedly to the end of Empire, the final days of American Imperium, even as we creep closer to the uncertain reality that lies beyond the debacle signalling the end of American global military power. Is the day of reckoning coming soon? Am I right to imagine that those in charge of the massive engine of American political and military power are clueless and stupid, and therefore recklessly imprudent?
Biden is talking to Putin on Tuesday. Will the Deep State publish a transcript of the call? Is this “crisis” all about a deal on natural gas as Nord Stream 2 nears operation? (Ukraine depends on Russian natural gas and transit fees on gas delivered to central Europe.)
Throughout human history, some few of us have been compelled to live according to the “still, small voice” within — the voice of the soul, the divine within, the inner compass — call it whatever you want. There is a place within our heart of hearts that KNOWS what is true for us and how we are meant to live. In most people, a steady stream of thoughts, concepts, judgments, and the resulting emotions keep us engrossed in the human drama, lost and adrift in the ephemeral sea. But for a few awakened ones, the eternal soul is their guide through life, regardless of what anyone else thinks or does. Every day, more of us wake up. This is good news!
@ bruce,
Yes but IMHO, just because the plutocratic puppetmasters keep moving the Overton window in the fascist direction, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. I assume that the blue dots who believe things that ain’t so are being misled by the very same people?
@ andy,
Agreed, there are many variables unknown about that girl’s situation. I was hoping others here might share their own travels. Myself, having usually preferred a best-fit balance between personal and social responsibility, arrived here after learning the scope and limits of the dark triad, and then determining that in our current age, they seem to favor the “personal responsibility” side. Not that they actually care. It’s just where all the action currently is, for them.
@ Bob Dole and/or Karen,
Rumored to have partied with Keith Richards his last days. Never ever party with Keith Richards. He’s in league with the Dark Lord.
Willy
Beau of the Fifth Column in one of his latest videos, tells of a letter he got from a schoolgirl who described herself as “a blue dot in a red state” (Texas), surrounded by what sounds like reactionary fools who keep calling her a Communist just because she wears a mask to school.
This made me think of anomalies from whatever environments, who seem able to move independently from whatever prevailing environmental and cultural pressures they have to endure. I understand how most people are wired to go along to get along, go down the blind faith alley, are susceptible to being herded by the devious, but I’m not entirely sure about what lies behind the kind of individual (integrous) thinking that girl displays.
I’m curious how others got to this place. Here. I’d always assumed that some hardship was the initial cause.
different clue
@Willy,
Since Beau clearly answers some letters and/or emails, he might answer your if you were to send him one asking just exactly that question.
bruce wilder
There are a lot of blue dots in red spaces, and vice versa, as well as grey dots or blank dots.
Political alignments, like all grouping in communities, involve a lot of agreeing to disagree and just overlooking crazy or reprehensible ideas and behavior. Plenty of people like to define themselves in independence from or in rebellion against some “other” near or far. Social media engineers did not have to venture far to know that people like to have their prejudices confirmed and their moral outrage buttons pushed.
Truly “independent” minds not-belonging-to-psychopaths are fairly rare, but righteous minds nurtured by healthy, supportive communities can be numerous, if communities exist — but even those communities give rise to pathology as well.
I would worry that a blue dot afloat on an ocean of social media would believe a lot of things that ain’t so, just as red dots allegedly do.
bruce wilder
I spent several hours this morning in a retrospective look at Russiagate, trying to see what happened to the lies and lying liars.
Mostly, it just gave me a headache. So many propaganda tricks — implying without asserting let alone proving alongside baseless speculation at every twist and turn (while spinning out twists and turns).
I think I believe the Russian state hacked the DCCC, DNC and Podesta, mostly because Mueller seemed pretty sure the Russians setup DCLeaks. (Of course, Seth Rich is still dead.)
Beyond that, it just seems like a madness that sets in after the whole political system has been in denial of reality for so long a further psychotic break seems normal and no one notices a speed bump on the road to perdition.
Andy
I’m curious how others got to this place. Here. I’d always assumed that some hardship was the initial cause.
That sounds about right. Umberto Eco nailed it when he said
“Losers, like autodidacts, always know much more than winners. If you want to win, you need to know just one thing and not waste your time on anything else: the pleasures of erudition are reserved for losers. The more a person knows, the more things have gone wrong.”
In my experience people who’ve learned to think independently were usually pushed in that direction by life circumstances that forced them to question the conventional wisdom that the majority of their peers simply accepted as default reality.
However, the girl in your example “who described herself as “a blue dot in a red state”” already identifies with one of America’s two influential political tribes so her take on masking isn’t exactly radical. She could have it up from her parents or by watching CNN.
Her vocalizing a “blue” opinion in territory that’s controlled by the other tribe, which is very paranoid and irrational about wearing a mask during a pandemic, does take some courage but if she moved to a “blue” state there would be nothing at all unusual about her stance.
A hypothetical person living in NYC who describes himself as a “red dot in a blue sea” and repeats a boilerplate right wing opinion that he picked up from watching Fox News is also acting courageously in that same limited sense.
Voicing an opinion, even if it isn’t popular in the area in which you happen to live, that is promoted by a major political party in your country does not in itself make you an independent or nuanced thinker.
From the minimal information we are given about this individual it is impossible to tell how independent, or courageous, her overall thinking is.
Chuck Mire
https://mobile.twitter.com/ValaAfshar/status/1466940371984961536
Muhammad Ali interview questioning “whiteness”.
anon y'mouse
the only “tribe” one should be attempting to join when wearing a mask (if they work, since so much debate and “studies” have occurred on either side of the question) is the tribe of people who don’t catch the virus.
adversity might be one of the things that makes one think differently. it seems to be so in my own case. early on i learned that almost all authority was bunk, and based upon some iteration of “might makes right”. it’s been a downhill intellectual slide ever since.
Stirling Newberry
Bob Dole is dead. Again.
bruce wilder
Sleepwalking to war?
I just realized that I have been seeing a fair amount of propaganda lately trying to normalize an expectation of war: 1.) Ukraine; 2.) Taiwan. I have been dismissing both in my mind, but I do not know who is really in charge in the “Biden” Administration or how they think.
It has been an ironic cliche to refer off-handedly to the end of Empire, the final days of American Imperium, even as we creep closer to the uncertain reality that lies beyond the debacle signalling the end of American global military power. Is the day of reckoning coming soon? Am I right to imagine that those in charge of the massive engine of American political and military power are clueless and stupid, and therefore recklessly imprudent?
Biden is talking to Putin on Tuesday. Will the Deep State publish a transcript of the call? Is this “crisis” all about a deal on natural gas as Nord Stream 2 nears operation? (Ukraine depends on Russian natural gas and transit fees on gas delivered to central Europe.)
Karen
Throughout human history, some few of us have been compelled to live according to the “still, small voice” within — the voice of the soul, the divine within, the inner compass — call it whatever you want. There is a place within our heart of hearts that KNOWS what is true for us and how we are meant to live. In most people, a steady stream of thoughts, concepts, judgments, and the resulting emotions keep us engrossed in the human drama, lost and adrift in the ephemeral sea. But for a few awakened ones, the eternal soul is their guide through life, regardless of what anyone else thinks or does. Every day, more of us wake up. This is good news!
NR
Actually masks do work, the science is quite clear:
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118
Willy
@ bruce,
Yes but IMHO, just because the plutocratic puppetmasters keep moving the Overton window in the fascist direction, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. I assume that the blue dots who believe things that ain’t so are being misled by the very same people?
@ andy,
Agreed, there are many variables unknown about that girl’s situation. I was hoping others here might share their own travels. Myself, having usually preferred a best-fit balance between personal and social responsibility, arrived here after learning the scope and limits of the dark triad, and then determining that in our current age, they seem to favor the “personal responsibility” side. Not that they actually care. It’s just where all the action currently is, for them.
@ Bob Dole and/or Karen,
Rumored to have partied with Keith Richards his last days. Never ever party with Keith Richards. He’s in league with the Dark Lord.