In the US one of the first things a stranger asks is what you do for a living. When I went abroad for the first time I was astonished to realize no one asked this ever.
We were both kids when JFK was assassinated, and many like me thought the world had come to an end. What I've learned in the many decades since, is that the American institution is much stronger and resilient than any of its stewards who temporarily take the helm. As individuals, it seems to me we live more productive lives if we don't worry incessantly about the issues and actions over which we have mere incidental control or influence. Different countries practice different customs. I am glad you found a place that makes you happy. Perhaps it's time to close the door on the American chapter of your life?
The cult of personality is hypnotic and controlling... to a degree the blind fealty to a moral monster is something that one cannot easily extract from the deep place it resides.
A few days ago I looked up some examples of situations where people had ended family relationships because they supported one party over the other. I was expecting to read about Trumpers cutting off family members who supported Democrats. To my surprise there seemed to be more instances where the reverse occurred. Thank you Bret for your take and your reminder to look inside ourselves and to remember that as reprehensible as Trump may be, we owe it to ourselves and to humanity to extend understanding and compassion to those around us.
Beginning in the ‘80s, it was absolutely HAMMERED into our heads - in movies, music, politics, everything - that greed is good, community and government and public efforts are bad, force makes right, it’s good to be a gangsta, money is everything, self-reliance is all you need, everyone is “self-made” without help from anyone or anything, safe and secure and steady 30 year careers and jobs with retirement are terrible and boring…….
All of this mental SHIT ring a bell for you? Meanwhile, our elites were slowly dismantling all of the public and legal safeguards and protections and here we are. Donald Trump and Joe Biden and Jared Kushner and Musk and Peter Thiel are the grand culmination. The Supermen of 4 decades of “free market” anti-labor and anti-community rot.
The best thing you can now have is a parent or grandparent who has been invested to a significant degree in stocks and bonds and other things for over half a century. Nothing else is secure.
In the US one of the first things a stranger asks is what you do for a living. When I went abroad for the first time I was astonished to realize no one asked this ever.
"Apparently, I could just be there."
Beautiful Bret, love it <3
Re: This Election
Occasionally, I'm catching myself, out of the corner of my mind's eye, relishing the utter destruction of the Trumper sense of self.
Then I realize that that's just mean...a horrible way to treat another human being, and an awful way to treat yourself.
We were both kids when JFK was assassinated, and many like me thought the world had come to an end. What I've learned in the many decades since, is that the American institution is much stronger and resilient than any of its stewards who temporarily take the helm. As individuals, it seems to me we live more productive lives if we don't worry incessantly about the issues and actions over which we have mere incidental control or influence. Different countries practice different customs. I am glad you found a place that makes you happy. Perhaps it's time to close the door on the American chapter of your life?
Thanks as always for your insightful comments.
“Rest and be kind.” Kerouac
The cult of personality is hypnotic and controlling... to a degree the blind fealty to a moral monster is something that one cannot easily extract from the deep place it resides.
A few days ago I looked up some examples of situations where people had ended family relationships because they supported one party over the other. I was expecting to read about Trumpers cutting off family members who supported Democrats. To my surprise there seemed to be more instances where the reverse occurred. Thank you Bret for your take and your reminder to look inside ourselves and to remember that as reprehensible as Trump may be, we owe it to ourselves and to humanity to extend understanding and compassion to those around us.
Beginning in the ‘80s, it was absolutely HAMMERED into our heads - in movies, music, politics, everything - that greed is good, community and government and public efforts are bad, force makes right, it’s good to be a gangsta, money is everything, self-reliance is all you need, everyone is “self-made” without help from anyone or anything, safe and secure and steady 30 year careers and jobs with retirement are terrible and boring…….
All of this mental SHIT ring a bell for you? Meanwhile, our elites were slowly dismantling all of the public and legal safeguards and protections and here we are. Donald Trump and Joe Biden and Jared Kushner and Musk and Peter Thiel are the grand culmination. The Supermen of 4 decades of “free market” anti-labor and anti-community rot.
The best thing you can now have is a parent or grandparent who has been invested to a significant degree in stocks and bonds and other things for over half a century. Nothing else is secure.