Category: Books

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Uncode Yourself – Before It’s Too Late

capitalism and freedom friedman

Subtitle 1: It’s Too Late!

Subtitle 2: Thoughts on re-read of Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom.

“The Liberal conceives of men as imperfect beings. He regards the problem of social organisation to be as much a negative problem of preventing “bad” people from doing harm as of enabling “good” people to do good; and, of course, “bad” and “good” people may be the same people, depending on who is judging them.” -Milton Friedman

Sound familiar, dear worst-reader? Sound anything like what President Stupid said when trying to explain there are good and bad people on both sides of Charlottesville, VA, 2017? With that in mind, is it time to wake up to the embedded code that makes up this/your sucker>fool #MAGA again again again, etc.?

The code has got you.

On the one hand, some refer to the code as the bubble. Others may call it the narative. Then there’s drinking the kool-aide. Let’s stick with bubble, shall we.

“Dude, you’re stuck in a bubble and that’s why you can’t understand what I’m fcuking trying to tell you.”

Of course, the issue being discussed is that of politics. Witnessing a discussion in America with Americans about politics is indeed a sight to behold. But who doesn’t like watching monkeys alternate their thumbs between ass to mouth? And speaking of monkeys, politics and the krapp #Americant has gotten itself into. Here a few random thoughts as to how it got this way.

  • Can you pay off all your debt in thirty days, two months, less than six months?
  • How are those multiple mortgages that you took out; think you bought low, got some great fictional interest rates; and now no one can pay rent to feed that low interest?
  • Worried about seeing a doctor, dentist, or even calling an ambulance?
  • Finance a car for seven years lately, sucker? Seriously. Seven year car financing. Are cars made to last that long?
  • How does it feel to be part of the minority-rule supporting the 1% because you’re too fcuking stupid to have thought about this over the past thirty years?
  • And let’s not even talk about credit cards, student loans, etc.

But there’s more code.

“On the one hand, if the minority feels strongly about the issue involved, even a bare majority will not do. Few of us would be willing to have issues of free speech, for example, decided by a bare majority.” -M. Friedman

“That’s a demon I will take down, or I’ll die trying. So that’s it. It’s going to happen, we’re going to walk out in the square, politically, at high noon, and he’s going to find out whether he makes a move man, make the move first, and then it’s going to happen. It’s not a joke. It’s not a game. It’s the real world. Politically. You’re going to get it, or I’m going to die trying, bitch. Get ready. We’re going to bang heads. We’re going to bang heads.” -Alex Jones about Robert Mueller (who is investigating President Stupid for being stupid)

What is your favourite code? I know the favourite code of certain types of stupid, ugly white people. And I assure it has nothing to do with an app for your phone. But let’s not get too complicated. Here an example of some very simple non-app code: unite the right rally. Why would a country need such a rally in 2017? Has the right been so convoluted/diluted over the years–you know, post 1865–that it has to unite (again)? If so, how does such a thing permeate through time & space of the American Dream (sarcasm off)? Indeed. What motivates these really, really ugly, stupid white people to do such a thing? That’s right. Code. The code of language, of gesture, of eye-contact, clothing, crocs. And so, after recently reading a brilliant book, I began to ask: what is this code?

Last night in an ill-motivated and drunken stupor I reached for my e-reader and immediately called up Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom. I started re-reading…

Chapter 2: The Role of Government in a Free Society

“The mere mention of royalties, copyrights, patent; shares of stock in corporations; riparian rights, and the like, may perhaps emphasise the role of generally accepted social rules in the very definition of property. It may suggest also that, in many cases, the existence of well specified and generally accepted definition of property is far more important than just what the definition is.” -M. Friedman

“That depends on what ‘is’ is.” -Bill Clinton

Yes. Re-reading Milton Friedman while suffering a kind of panic-attack, especially while sorrow-raging over a twenty-nine year old minimum wage airport worker stealing a commercial airplane, crashing it in a fit of suicide, and then listening to the Newz (The Media?) never ask once why a human being would resort to such a thing. Yeah, reason enough to re-read Friedman, eh. Then again, the thing that hit me is that there is something that connects all of this. What connects is not just all the (bad) Newz, don’t you know. But also all the blatant stupidity that has somehow given rise to THE CODE. Which begs the questions: Is the code emerging, showing its true face? If yes, what’s brought it out? Is it the sorrow-rage of mass suicide on a social and cultural and epidemic scale that no one wants to question? Does the code include the peripheral that goes beyond killing yourself by hi-jacking a commercial airline but also to take with you as much as you can–as the Vegas Shooter (2017) did? Have these people understood the code–a bit too well?

Who are the code writers?

Seriously. I always thought Milton Friedman was one scary motherf’er. The $hit he writes, man. All pure code. And how many people follow him? How many adore him? But it doesn’t stop there. I had no idear that he could be topped. I suppose, in a way, after reading extensive research about him, and now having discovered someone even worse, I’m afraid to go anywhere near a guy like James M. Buchanan. Is it because, maybe, like so many of my #Americant brethren, I’m worried something might turn me? You know, convert me, show me the light, redeem me in the confusion-hate of John the Baptist and his lead-tainted industrial river greed water? Reading one of these crackpots is enough, ain’t it? Please let it be enough. And although I will admit I am tempted to dabble in Hayek for posterity’s sake, please don’t let me go near the likes of James M. Buchanan. Aghast!

As stated, since reading Capitalism and Freedom during a Bali trip ca. 2006/7, and only being impressed with the first two chapters, although I did read the whole book, something tethered my thoughts back to it recently after opening the can of worms that is hate-economics e.g. Friedman & Co. And it’s all about how they write not what they write. Well, it’s also about what they write. Nomatter.

Code. Code. Code.

Code is what these crackpot, dogmatic, idealist, pseudo-economists use when they write books. (Ok. “pseudo” probably not applicable but I’ll keep it all the same.) And their books are nothing more than how-to guides on economic authoritarianism. That’s right. They really are writing how-to books for fascists. Remember, fascism is capitalisms answer to communism, per F.A. Hayek. Yes. These man produce easy guides (easy for the edumacated pawns of the fascist dear leader) about how to oppress people, nations, etc. using economic torture. And boy are they good at it. Friedman & Co., baby. They have been feeding the mind of greed-mongers for at least a century now. And look at the result.

Obviously, President Stupid is taking the code to new levels. Perhaps he’s even side-stepping convention in his use of the code. But make no mistake, dear worst-reader, he too is a code-monger. I mean, come on. At least Friedman can articulate a thought and make it intellectual–even if it is an evil thought. President Stupid does it on Twitter where he’s able to spew code to the redneck shitkickers at the base of the alt-right, right-wing, WWE, fly-over states, free t-shirts and hats make millions of minions vote. And that’s how you activate the electoral college, #Hillary.

Side note: The reason Twitter won’t cancel Alex Jones after Apple and other tech companies have, is because of #Trump. Think about it. Just look at the number of President Stupid followers. Then calculate how much it might cost in stock value if Twitter were to actually do the right thing. (Yeah, Twitter can’t afford it.)

But I digress.

Code Code Code.

“It is therefore clearly possible to have economic arrangements that are fundamentally capitalist and political arrangements that are not free.” -M. Friedman

Two words out of this last quote. Capital and Free. Milton Friedman’s book is titled “Capitalism and Freedom”. Perhaps, not unlike Einstein’s E=MC2, which is also a kind of code, Friedman has found a way to explain everything in the most simple terms. The only problem is that Einstein eventually came around to the destructive power of his code. Friedman died laughing about the suckers he turned to fools with his code. Indeed. Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom is ONLY about capitalist being free to do what ever the fcuk they want. And they do so via code:

Capital + Freedom = Freedom for Capitalists nomatter what the result.

Or maybe not.

Either way, good luck on your journey (#Americants) from being turned suckers to fools.

-Rant on

T

Pseudo Review – 2: How Deep Do The Unpeeled Layers Of Your Rotten Onion Go?

democracy in chains cover

Subtitle: “Democracy In Chains” By Nancy MacLean Goes Seriously Deep Into What Makes #Americant Stupider Not Greater.

She took me deeper, dear worst-reader. This historian, this professor-type person that writes books–and she can take you deep, too. That is, if you’re at all inclined to go deep. Especially the kind of deep that involves figuring out what made The Land of Free To Be Stupid. I mean, ain’t that where we’re at right now? Especially considering that such a claim is straight out of the worst-mouth of an expat–who jumped ship over twenty years ago on account he saw all this stupid coming? Then again, with the political situation in my beloved & missed #Americant–that I probably follow waaaaaay to much–I’d say we’re long past the old saying: going off the deep end. Yeah, we’re actually right there measuring how deep that deep-end goes as we fail-upwards and the ground can be seen below… I mean above. How’s the view for you?

I finished “Democracy in Chains” by Nancy MacLean the other day in the late morning. I’ve been telling myself that I need to let the book rest–as in, rest in my mind–a bit, especially considering I wrote this worst-post about it only two days ago. The thing is, two days ago, I couldn’t stop my typing fingers even though I was only half-way through the book. That’s what happens when you find a book that gets to your innards, eh, dear worst-reader? Indeed.

If you are at all into trying to figure out how something can get so fcuked up, especially politically and economically, MacLean has found a way to explain it to you. Of course, I’m always looking out for a good book to read. I’m specifically looking for a book that will get under my gander by teaching me a thing or three about this fcuked up world we’re all stuck with on account a bunch of greed-mongers run it. This book comes pretty close to doing just that. For example, who the fcuk is James M. Buchanan? Not even sure if I ever heard that he won the friggin Nobel Prize for economics. But before I get too much into all that, allow me to provide an analogy or two that might help you understand worst-writer and where I’m coming from.

Analogy 1 – Peel the onion

You know that old saying, don’t you dear worst-reader? But what does peeling the onion really mean? Well, for some, it’s about work. It’s also about slow work. Some even think it’s about how to get chicks. But let’s stick with work, shall we? You peel the onion and with every layer peeled you complete something. For worst-moi, Democracy in Chains, is the result of having completed a seriously cool onion peel. Layer after layer MacLean shows how the political right-wing of #Americant–and for you both-siderists out there, this really is a right-wing only problem–has a plan to fcuk you over all in the name of, to put it simply: old-money. Let me worst-write that again. Old money is fcuking you. And that’s not the best part about this book. The best part is that MacLean seems to have made a major discovery by…

  1. Peel a completely new onion
  2. With every layer peeled, blow worst-writer’s fcuking mind that kinda knew all this already. (Or maybe not.)

And so. If you want to understand what’s wrong with #Americant and how someone like #Trump can become President Stupid, have a look at what the right-wing has been doing since… Get this. The right-wing has been fcuking you since the fcuking civil fcuking war and they’ve been doing it like leeches, roaches, cockscukers, etc. But let me move on before I blow a gasket.

Analogy 2 – Inception, the movie

It’s been a while since watching the movie, so let me summarise it like this. (Spoiler Alert!) Leonardo DeCaprio is a kind of dream thief. Through some weird chemical and technical manipulation where two people are connected, a dream-state is induced between them. While in the dream-state Leonardo becomes part of the other persons dream–but they don’t know that. They just think he’s a character in their dream. The dreamer is then manipulated by Leonardo which leads to some form of criminal activity in the real world. And here’s the kicker about how I think this has something to do with what Nancy MacLean has done. Leonardo not only can go into one dream-state but he can also go deeper into a dream-state within a dream-state. You got that? I can’t remember how many levels of dreams he ultimately penetrates but he obviously goes pretty deep into various dream-states by the end of the movie.

If I understand MacLean correctly, #Americant republicans, libertarians, Neo-liberals and conservatives, for decades, have been working deep within the layers of the #Americant onion. With the help of Leonardo DeCaprio they’ve been peeling it away from within your dreams in order to screw you and…

Ok. Maybe not. At least forget the last DeCaprio reference. Let’s move on.

Up to now I really only thought republicanism had two levels. I thought these two levels pretty much controlled the whole show. One level is a particular form of economic ideology, you know, Milton Friedman & Co. The other, of course, is religious bat$hittery. You know, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, The 700 Club, weight-lifting, muscle-bound, gun-totting Jesus, etc. But I was wrong. Although the religious part is probably singular in its execution, there are multiple layers of economic ideology that have been stealing the show for decades. These multiple economic layers, though, are not just Keynesian or Austrian schools, among others. Instead there is something completely different going on here.

Seriously. If you thought things couldn’t get any worse because of $hitbags like Milton Friedman, think again. MacLean, in her book, reveals some pretty astonishing stuff about the players in the grand greed $hitshow–from a whole bunch of new layers (peeled away). For example. I had no idear someone other than Milton Friedman was part of what turned Chile, if not most of South America, into a bastion of old money Neo-feudal aristocracies–that right-wing extremists in #Americant adore. Another example. A rinky-dink college in the middle of Redneckville, Virginia, George Mason University, has played a huge role in some of the most dirty, rotten onion layers of republicanism. Seriously. Redneck school got one up on the infamous Chicago School (Milton Friedman)? Take that, Chicago!

If MacLean is right, the stuff she’s discovered in her research is not only scary, but people should probably start filling up their shelter-bunkers–cause it looks like the bat$hit greed-mongers have a long-term plan in place and they ain’t done yet. The upper middle-class schmucks should get on with filling their bunker’s first on account they ain’t part of the layer of republicanism that is doing all this–as they are beholden to the trickle down of the 1%. More on that in my worst-post about being ruled by the minority 30% here.) And, as I’ve worst-said before, the people that make up the #Americant political right-wing, especially the really, really rich and well-inherited dudes, if they can’t get their way with all their misconstrued economic ideology that is basically nothing but bigotry, greed and racism, they will fcuking burn the house down. And they are in pretty good position to do it, too. Speaking of…

Charles Koch

A name that has been creeping around the newz I read and listen to (podcast) for years. But to be honest, I’ve always thought he was just another lucky dude that inherited a krapp load of money from his father. According to the history of Koch Industries, since he inherited it, he’s done pretty well for himself. But has he done anything new, anything original? Of course not. Even though MacLean is very lenient about this man in her book and even praises him for having earned multiple academic credentials in whatever field of science or engineering from whatever bat$hit school, I haven’t fallen for any of that. This guy is nothing more than a second or third generation a$$hole that inherited inherited inherited–like so many others in #Americant. And because of his/her perverted, sexually repressed upbringing, mixed with Godzilla-like bigotry, he is nothing but a man who has never been able to face the fact that he’s never known an original thought. That’s how and only how his old inherited money has enabled him to “succeed”. If you can even call not having ever done anything original but instead buying other companies, bullying other business, blah, blah, blah, success. He and his ilk (very old money inheritors) hate the fact that the world is desperately trying to move on. Men like Koch would rather stop the world from turning. That, btw, is one of the main reasons why old-money is so ugly. Charles Koch, with the help of his favourite political ideology (Libertarianism)–that in its essence is nothing more than greed mongering galore–uses his wealth to manipulate politics for one thing and one thing only. For himself. The #Americant way!

James M. Buchanan

People like Charles Koch, as I said, are incapable of original thought. Therefore they need thinkers. But what do you do if the only people you can associate with (because of your innate prejudices) have even less original thinking than you? You find someone that doesn’t need original thinking. You find someone that can take unoriginal thought and dress it up in a suit and tie and a certain lapel flag-pin–and then sell it as something new. Enter a world full of pawns, academia and pawn-credentialed-academia. Seriously. I thought Milton Friedman was a jerk-off. But Nancy MacLean peeled that onion and found a jerk-off that tops Friedman.

James M. Buchanan, a man that should provide thinkers of this world enough ammunition to finally laugh-off the Nobel Prize–or at least reject it–turned out to be the perfect pawn bigoted a$$holes like Charles Koch could rely on. According to MacLean, Buchanan’s economic idears are perfect for despots of the modern age because they facilitate the writing of constitutions that almost literally put people in economic chains. Hence, the title of her book. And so, Buchanan was useful to Koch until the bitter end when eventually they had to break ranks due to, you guessed it, bigoted, rich-a$$hole infighting.

In worst-summary

Although I don’t want to spoil the book (or have I already), here’s what republicanism is up to according to Democracy in Chains: old money needs to be secured constitutionally–even more than it already is. That is, republicans–as they are guided by The Virginia School (Buchanan, Koch, etc.), the Chicago school and, of course, now #Trumpism, etc.–are in the process of making the system even more one sided and in favour of the rich and the privileged–and making all this akin to what things were like, lets say, between 1850 and 1913 (give or take a few decades). Btw, the term robber baron remind you of anything?

So there you have it. After reading this book I feel fulfilled and I’m happy–even though this book is at times utterly shocking. On the one hand, it has taught me something. On the other hand, I can go into the near future without questioning the contempt that burns inside me for everything #Americant, republican and conservative. Also, I am somewhat relieved that this book helps reassure me that the disease of both-siderism is nothing more than a layer in the right-wing onion. For real. #Americant is the way it is post 2016 presidential election because of republicans. And I think that’s cool. Reason? It makes me feel superior. It makes me feel tingly and giggly as I LMAO on this side of the Atlantic. It also reassures me that the choices I made in life, that were mostly because of the deep-seeded onion filth/rot I left so many years ago, was the right choice.

And boy do I miss America!

Good luck suckers.

-Rant on

T

Pseudo Review – 1: “Democracy in Chains” – A Book To Steal The Heart Of Any Rational Useless-Eater That Figured Out How To Dropout In Style And Doesn’t Look Back With Too Much Anger

Update: Pseudo Review – 2 is here.

Afeared yet, dear worst-reader? Well, if you ain’t afeared yet, it might be time to get your bloomers in an uproar. Or is it get your bloomers in a gander? Wait. How ’bout gettin’ things up in a pickle? Nomatter. I’ve been reading the book Democracy in Chains by the historian Nancy MacLean. In fact, I’m not even done reading it while I worst-write this pseudo-review. And let me tell you, dear worst-reader, two things have gotten to me since starting this book–that I’m about half-way through so far.

The first thing, as just mentioned, is that this book once again reminds me of why people–normal people, people that aren’t born rich and of privilege, people who have earned their “keep” and/or still owe but can pay their bills–including but not limited to people that vote for #Trumpism because they are incapable of dealing with the reality they’ve ALL gotten themselves into by falling for republicanism from the past thirty (sixty?) years…. All these people should be scared (afeared) out of their fcuking bat$hit minds.

Second, and I don’t mean to be overly spiteful, presumptuous, and giggly here, but even though Nancy MacLean probably nails it in this calling-out book about the fcuked-up right-wing of my beloved & missed #Americant, I am snickering my a$$ off at the fact that I knew all of this already–just not as empirically and academically as MacLean details it in her book. Indeed. Ever since I was a young man and tried to make it among the mindless greed herders so long ago, what MacLean writes about is definitely part of my #Americant, worst-writer, failed-artist be-speckled being. With that in mind, let me put this out there:

I am a proud Unützer Esser. Come on, dear worst-reader. Give those old Germanic words a go. Unützer Esser. Unützer Esser. Unützer Esser. Unützer Esser. Say it a few more times. Enjoy the mouth watering acrobatics of the umlaut. Let the double Germanic ‘S’ role over lip and gum and provide that gracious tickle that only comes from subjective oral pleasure you conjured out of any of the many sexual conquests that made HER mouth more appealing.

But enough about worst-moi.

In translation, of course, Unützer Esser means: Useless Eater. Sound familiar to you if you’re one of the minions mentioned above who can’t see through the demise of your own making? I mean, come on. These are two easy words that are pretty easy to grasp, even in the original German. Right? You know. Call up your prejudice. Yeah. There it is. You got it. For you and the conservative-bent that has ruled your life, a Useless Eater is a burden to you because you think and believe that such a person gets by in life and you’re the one that pays for it because you have to pay things like… wait for it: income tax. Of course, does it matter that I use the original German for this term–and not the one most greed mongers, especially those from the infamous #Americant middle-class, use? You know, using the original is cool on account Germans, at a certain point in their near past–which a lot of #Americant white people are obsessed with–kinda invented it? But do you really know what a Unützer Esser is?

For the Germans, Usless Eater wasn’t a term used to describe fully functional people who made choices in life that lead to suckling on the government teat. You know, the marginalised, the drop-outs, those not quite good enough in the realm of corporate behaviourism, etc. I mean, come on. Have you worked in a cubicle lately? Oh, really. You still do? Or are you collecting rent from smart-ass real-estate investments enabled by urban gentrification and artificially low/fake interest rates? Oh wait. Or are you one of them stock-market cocksuckers that actually believes the numbers you see are real–and not fiction/fake that can only be derived from the willing and able über-gullible? If so, good for you. But before we get too off the beaten worst-path.

A Useless Eater, for the Germans, was someone that was physically incapable of being productive and therefore was a cost, a burden to… wait for it: National Socialism. It was a term used to describe the physically and mentally dysfunctional (disabled)–not people that simply didn’t agree with the bullshit of greed-mongers or the ignorant-moronic middle-classes or those who never wanted to be part of a rentier-system that mis-associates a livelihood with actual, real achievement, i.e. a meritless society. Indeed. The Nazis had a different fate for those folk. Usless Eater, for the Nazis, was a term in conjunction with the systematic use of gas chambers, concentration camps, Final Solutions, etc. And as we can see, it’s quite a versatile term, don’t you know.

So here’s a question for you: Would the Germans have eventually used the term Unützer Esser–you know, after they gassed everybody–for the mass of people that would eventually be forced into similar, costly societal dysfunction because capitalism would once again (post 1929) turn into a $hitshow of greed?

Wow. Talk about a mute question, eh!

And now for a little on this book that I’ve only read half of so far.

The thing that motivated me to read Democracy In Chains was Bill Maher’s interview with the author on last week’s show (which I listen to via audio podcast; see link below). In the interview MacLean mentioned how the current #SCOTUS pick from President Stupid was very, very dangerous. In fact, the whole #SCOTUS thing has preoccupied me since right-wingers stole Barry-O’s pick after the death of Antonin Scalia in early 2016. Keep in mind, I’m not worried about this pick because of the reasons many liberals espouse, i.e. he’s a religious $hitbag–which is bad enough. Instead, MacLean mentioned that his judicial record indicates he is a follower of an even more extreme political and economic ideology than the one that’s gotten #Americant into the mess it’s now in. MacLean mentioned in the interview that Brett Kavanaugh is a right-winger that wants to change the US Constitution so that it will better favour property and liberty–for the rich. To do that, according to MacLean, this guy wants to change the 17th Amendment back to what it was originally, i.e. state legislators pick National Senators. He also wants to change the 25th Amendment, which deals with how to get rid of a corrupt President. And now you know why President Stupid picked him. And of course, let’s not forget he will most certainly over-turn Roe v. Wade thereby resetting political and social gains of women in the past… Gee, I don’t know: hundred or so fcuking years!

Wow.

The second thing to motivate me to read this book was the mention of Charles Koch and, someone I had never heard of: James M. Buchanan. Half way through the book I can easily tell you that you should be scared out of your wits–especially if you’re one of them both-siderists that enabled President Stupid. Or you’re a libertarian that will spend your life dreaming the dream of dreams thinking you’ll be safe when it all crashes–you know, with your Ayan Rand gold collection. Or, and here’s the doozy, you should be biggly, huuuuuugely afeard if you voted for Trump and you actually work/worked for a living. Yeah. What’s going on in the halls and cess-whirl-pools of the United Mistakes of #Americant right now should make you run for the fcuking hills! But then again, don’t you’all deserve this?

Golly-gee! The dystopia-ists who chronicled all this a century ago–because they already lived through it–Orwell, Huxley, etc.–are probably laughing their a$$es off just like me right now.

“But why are you laughing, worst-writer? You’re a f’n failure through and through!”

I’m laughing because, well, it’s hi-larry-us that I jumped ship because I knew as far back as the mid to late 1980s how that ship was sinking, the train-wreck was underway, and since then, in all my travels, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting one American that actually made it beyond being a pawn in this the grand shit$how of greed.

Anywho.

I’ll be posting a follow-up pseudo-review of this book once I finish it.

Good night and good luck, suckers.

-Rant on

T

Links:
– NPR review 1 – https://www.npr.org/2017/06/18/531929217/democracy-in-chains-traces-the-rise-of-american-libertarianism
– NPR review 2 – https://www.npr.org/sections/ombudsman/2017/08/14/542634650/readers-rankled-by-democracy-in-chains-review
– NYT review – https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/books/review/democracy-in-chains-nancy-maclean.html
– Glossary of Nazi Germany ‘U’ – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Nazi_Germany#U
– Ep. #467: Malcolm Nance, Nancy MacLean – Released Aug 04, 2018 Bill’s guests are Malcolm Nance, Nancy MacLean, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Charles Blow, and Steve Schmidt (Originally aired 08/03/18) | This show is available as audio podcast on iTunes | https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-467-malcolm-nance-nancy-maclean/id98746009?i=1000417184062&mt=2

Suburban Hell Tribe Wars Or How The Feminine Stole The Show

the mere wife

There are two things I always think about when I think about the tale of Beowulf. The first is the connection the story has to religion, specifically monotheistic religion. At the time the story was written polytheism was still relatively common in Northern Europe. Even though it is a very minor part of the original text, I believe the slight mention of Christianity is a significant one because the story stems out of a time period where northern Europeans were determining their fate and considering carefully what was going on to their geographical south. Indeed. Odin and Thor and Loki were obviously not enough as the roar of the Roman + Christian empire(s) just below them glowed large and all-powerful.

In the original Beowulf text the Christian religion is mentioned during a debate with the King of the Danes that maybe they should hire the Romans–as in the Christ believers–instead of Beowulf to help them fight Grendel. It is because of that question I’ve always believed that Grendel is not an individual but instead a group or a tribe. Btw, the same applies to Beowulf. In other words, although the story can be about an individual or a few individuals and the heroism that entails–as it’s been interpreted through out the centuries–I believe that the story is actually about tribes that were in a perpetual state of war not only about power and possessions but also beliefs, dogma and Gods. So what were they fighting over?

The second thing I think about is the role of matriarchy in society (tribes) and how rule by the feminine has pretty much been annihilated–even to this day. That is, Grendel and Grendel’s mother represented a tribe(s) where matriarchy ruled. Such rule was unacceptable to the King of the Danes and Beowulf–i.e. two macho-tribes that teamed up. Hence, the Roman Christ God, its patriarchy, its dogma, its weapons and techniques of war, was an acceptable alternative for the macho-pigs in their quest to take over (everything). At the least, this other form of religion put the women-folk in their place. Ultimately, the macho-pigs, embodied in the macho Beowulf, fulfilled this fledgling dogmatic image and, at least in the short term, saved the King of the Danes by defeating–annihilating–not only rival tribes but the rivalry of matriarchy itself. This, in-turn, was the final straw that lead to the Christianisation of Northern Europe that The Universal Church (that would eventually become The Catholic Church) up to that point had been unable to tame. So was Beowulf the north’s first sacrificed saviour? But on that note, I digress.

So much for worst-writer’s interpretation of the Poem of Everything. Instead, dear worst-reader, let’s focus on someone else’s interpretation of Beowulf. Someone who I think has nailed it. I just finished The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley. Talk about interpretation, baby! And not only can this chick fcuking write–she has created a glorious text to read–and she’s even come up with a pretty good interpretation of Beowulf. But only pretty good!

Set in the modern suburban-hell of my beloved & missed & war-torn #Americant, Headley has kinda done a reverse and inverse of Beowulf. Her interpretation is not hero centric but instead heroine centric. By turning the story inside-out and telling it through the point of view of the feminine, who must cope with the fcuked-up world created and facilitated by male driven war, if not penis-driven suburbia, she has masterfully concocted a story of the trials, pains and tribulations of a once great nation run amok–and what that’s done to the chicks. Even though I don’t actually like her feminising my favourite man-cave text–and I’m especially not sure if I would like it if I wasn’t already familiar with the original–she writes with such lyrical precision and word-beauty that I’m ready to give one of her other books a go. Yeah, baby. Queen of Kings is next?

The Mere Wife deserves every bit of praise it gets. In fact, I’m gonna have to search the #interwebnets for whether or not anyone doesn’t like what Headley has done with Beowulf. And if/when I find someone who doesn’t like it, I’m gonna hunt them down and stick a big fcuking knife in their neck and drink their blood till the roar of Beowulf booms out of me. Argh!

-Rant (and read) on.

T

Trying To Understand #Americant – With W.E.B. DuBois

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I have seen a land right merry with the sun, where children sing, and rolling hills lie like passioned women wanton with harvest. -W.E.B. DuBois

Finally got around to it, dear worst-reader. You know, that list of authors you’ve been meaning to read but somehow never get to. The thing is, if I get caught on one author that blows me a way I’m preoccupied with him (or her) for a while. And as we all know, worst-writer ain’t the fastest or the bestest reader.

The short-list of authors I’ve been waiting to get to regarding the subject of my beloved America’s downfall is Cornel West and W.E.B. DuBois. Well, last week, while searching around I came across a free version of “The Souls of Black Folk”. As soon as I finished the second page, I was hooked. Wow can this guy write! Who’d ever guess that in order for one to learn something about a part of America that is truly the most f’d up part (slavery!) some guy would come along and write about it (a hundred years go) with such beauty and elegance that sometimes you have to pinch yourself to remember you’re not reading Shakespeare.

One of the reasons I felt I should (finally) read DuBois (and Cornel West) is because I think one should try and understand the origin of his or her exploitation. I mean, when you’re practically exploited because you’re begging for it, lusting for it, needing it, shouldn’t you at least understand it? With that in mind, here’s one of the most motivating things I’ve ever heard:

“America has been niggarised since nine-eleven. When you’re niggarised you’re unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, hated for who you are and you become so scared that you defer to the powers that be and consent to your own domination.” -Cornel West

Now that America has lost its way and has become #Americant, is it too much to ask to be taught something about what’s going on? I mean, obviously, considering the state of THE MEDIA in a place that has chosen as a surname THE HOMELAND, where should this knowledge come from? Ok. A good start would be Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. But the problem with Orwell is that he ain’t #Americant–even though that book totally fits the bill at this point in history. Ok. How ’bout Gore Vidal? There’s also Howard Zinn if you need a quickie History-101 course. On the entertainment side, you know, to both busy and sooth the mind, give the likes of Henry Miller a read. He’ll teach you something about #Americant, for sure. Also, Miller’s smut never hurts if you need to better enter into your lover. And on that note, I digress.

“The South ought to be lead, by candid and honest criticism, to assert her better self and to do her full duty to the race she has cruelly wronged and is still wronging.” -W.E.B. DuBois

Obviously something is eerily awry in my beloved & missed United Mistakes and one book ain’t gonna explain it all to me. Then again, considering THE MEDIA, especially the likes of faux-newz and the convoluted messages from the #MeToo movement and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, where the hell is any knowledge gonna come from? Wait. Is there knowledge in hysteria?

How the fcuk do I know?

Perhaps trying to grasp the pain of others, especially a pain that runs so deep and through so many generations of African Americans, as slavery does, is worth the slight effort of reading Mr. DeBois. At the least you’re given the written word in its highest form.

-Rant on

T

“The Media” Or A Mirror To Hide Behind

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Sometimes a podcast can motivate. For example. Last night while listening to the Ralph Nader Radio Hour and the show Google is God, the last few minutes contained an interview with a guy named Michael G. Merhige. He was promoting his new book: Thoughtful Pauses – A Political Philosophy. According to Nader, Merhige is a former servant of the grand $hitshow. That is, he’s a former military guy who, among many other achievements, served in Vietnam and then worked for the CIA. I’m guessing that he’s now retired and living the good life in front of his TV probably somewhere in Florida and all the while trying NOT to be crushed by a lazy-boy–that is somehow induced to flip his channels to the right and beyond.

Or maybe not.

Michael Merhige is–obviously–part of the generation of $hitbags that have given the world my beloved & missed #Americant. You know what I’m referring to, right dear worst-reader? He’s either of The Greatest Generation or he’s their off-spring The Boomer Generation. And what does this extreme generational servant do with his time? I’m not really sure but if I were to guess based on reading this very short book, he sits around and jots down random but driven thoughts and is then able to put them all together and get a weary publisher to publish them.

Oh, and let’s not forget he’s also able to get Ralph Nader’s attention. And before I forget, I specifically use the word driven (previous paragraph) and NOT agenda to describe what Merhige jots down because, well, it’s obvious that he too is doing his best–like so many of his generation–to not fall into the trap of being labelled. Being labelled, by-the-buy, is one of the new #Americant consume-to-survive past-times and is the only way to open any door or window of opportunity to have a living standard. At the least, for Merhige, it worked with an opportunity to get on Nader’s show and sell his book (to me).

And so.

It’s more then who you know to get ahead in life in these trying times. It’s now who you know and does who you know like/approve your label? Yeah, labels are the things two horrendous generations have given the world among so many other really, really, krappy, ugly things.

But on that note I digress.

I have been curious about the origins of my beloved & missed #American’t for some time now. I suppose that’s what motivated me while listening to Nader (naively) interview the author of this book–and then subsequently buying it in the middle of the night and finishing by 6am. My curiosity has brought about a few questions. You know, how did the show that was America turn into the $hitshow that is now #Americant? Did it happen one day or did it happen overnight? Was there one event or one person that lead to the $hitshow? Is there anyone out there even capable of grasping the $hitshow if all there is… is the $hitshow?

Unfortunately I’ve not been successful in answering most of the above questions. I am an expatriate, don’t you know. I live far far far away–from the #Homeland–and my research capability is limited. (Or is it?) And even though there is quite a bit of literature out there that deals with the nature of a superpower or even human history, there is very little out there that reveals the truth about the innards of the people that make up the $hitshow. Rest assured, dear worst-reader, Merhige doesn’t come close to revealing anything about what’s wrong back home–although you’d think based on the first few chapters of this odd and strange manifesto that he might be trying to do just that. This cute little book of sayings and one-liners in the form of a pseudo-political manifesto stuck in the drunken shadow of Thomas Paine might convince a few readers out there that Merhige has something worthwhile to say. But once I got past the first few pages, something familiar began to click in my worst-mind.

Oh my, I thought. This sounds so so so so so familiar. It’s like reading snippets of *faux newz* galore.

So here’s the trigger about Merhige and his f’n generation of $hitbags that brought us the $hitshow: While nothing original or even inventive comes out of his writing, it does become clear through his choice of words that he too is nothing more than a shill for a system that no one–AND I MEAN NO ONE!–in my bloved & missed #Americant is able to see through. At least no one that is capable of publishing a book. Except maybe Ralph Nader. With that in mind, I can forgive Ralph for this awful book recommendation. Ralph was fooled, I’m sure. But let me not get too far off subject.

What’s the first sign that can indicate you’re reading something produced by a shill? Of the highlights I made in this odd and strange book, the word that stands out the most is “media” or The Media. The tablet version of this book that I read in about two hours–on account it’s only seventy pages long–has the word media printed hundreds of times. You know, as in, blame the media. The next word(s) that is constantly and overly used is: “politically correct”. After that comes Government, The Press, TV, Entertainment, blah, blah, blah. Or should I say: blame blame blame someone or something else.

Come on. Seriously? I jumped all over this book because Ralph Nader recommended it. It even started out pretty good. I really don’t mind a well written manifesto here or there. (Big fan of Thomas Paine, btw!) But then the book simply goes on and on and on with one-liners describing what the author thinks is wrong with everything and everyone but never really addresses any truth about the actual problem–and how things got the way they are. In other words. Same old same old from complainers and whiners–i.e. two generations of greed mongers that are #Americant.

Yeah, words through me off big time in this little book. It’s as though the author has had some tube inserted into his skull and faux newz is feeding him everything to say, think, do. Of course, he might be a faux newz hater and perhaps doesn’t even watch it. But at this point in #Americant history, that doesn’t matter. Faux newz, including the grand master of bigotry Rush Limbaugh, are the manifestation of a voice that controls not only the national narrative that has been broadcast daily for the past thirty-plus years throughout #Americant but it also represents the mindset of the/a people. Particularly conservative people. And let’s face it: conservative is #Americant, #Americant is conservatism. Of course, the worst part about this voice is that it so easily transcends conservatism. In fact, in #Americant, there is no escaping it–especially considering the neo-liberal movement owned by so-called Liberals. Merhige proves with gusto, like so many #Americants on a daily basis, that his mind is trapped. He’s trying desperately to find a way to express what is wrong with everything and yet, even after writing this pamphlet-like book, he’s still probably never sat in front of a mirror and said a few of the thousands of one-liners he wrote down that ultimately just complains about everything. On the other hand, I wonder how many times in his life he actually voted for republicans because of taxes, family values, his bank account, etc., never realising how he’s been so brilliantly duped. Yeah, write a book about being duped, dude.

Suckers galore that know how to write and publish a book about how things should or could be? Indeed. Much ado about nothing, baby.

Another word Merhige misuses in his book is Truth. Using the word or writing it down or saying it isn’t as powerful as living it or being an example of it. He should come around to worst-writer-ville, don’t you know. But then again, we all have our mirrors to hide behind.

-Rant on

-T

Doing What’s Do-Able In Times Of #Trump And Too Much Freedom To Be Stupid

Believing in the power of knowledge has been a worst-mantra of mine for years. That’s probably why it’s so difficult for me to deal with the anti-intellectualism that has overcome my beloved & missed #Americant. I mean, what else could get a man like #Trump so far in this life? Or do you actually believe that intellect has something to do with all this idiocracy and reality-tv nation mis-state-hood? Wait. Did I just kill my own worst-question there? But on that note, I digress. For today’s worst-post deals with my most recent read. That’s right, dear worst-reader. I read this book last night and early this morning and enjoyed it thoroughly. Perhaps you can too–if you can still get it. (Btw, most recent search in online book store from hell shows it to be out of print but available as a used book.) Oh. And before I forget, pay special attention to the captions of two of the pics included above.

Rant on.

-T

PS And no! I’m not the one selling the book used on online books store from hell.