This guy's spinning a pretty loud set on the stage right next to DJ Trump: Netanyahu rejects charges: Police set me up.
At a global level, we're in a leadership vacuum. There's only a few I know of and respect: Merkel (100%), kinda Macron, and maybe Shinzo. Actually, I think the majority of stuff coming out about Mexico's new prez has been good too. Overall, though, feels pretty rudderless.
Neoliberalism has run the world since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Neoliberalism is basically "I'm going to take your money using equations and well-wishing" instead of "I'm going to take your money at gunpoint." It's a deeply dissatisfying philosophy for practitioners and practitioned. The response to neoliberalism is populism. I mean, this shit's just straight up Animal Farm and anybody paying attention knows it. The response to populism is... ...I guess we wait and see. As far as Netanyahu, he's a bone-evil opportunist mutherfucker who will burn in hell if there is one.At a global level, we're in a leadership vacuum.
Didja hear that everyone?! Kleinbl00th is threatening me! Well take a good look, 'cuz it's the last time you're gonna see these!! shows boobies I distinctly recall "learning" in school that American populism was usually great! It led to fantastic movements, like the Great Awakening, where soooo many people found Jesus, mostly because if they didn't, they'd fuckin' die in a fire :D! Let me just consult my notes here... ..Ah. Yes, the text doesn't seem to cover what to do in the event of Fox News poisoning the information ecosystem. Was quite aware of the motivations in high school, but now I cherish Animal Farm, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and the like more than ever."I'm going to take your money using equations and well-wishing"
The response to populism is...
I'd be curious what you learned vs. what I learned as all the textbooks I was working with were effectively revisions of stuff written during the Long Boom. I debated the reunification of Germany in high school... before it happened. All our maps still had North Vietnam on them; the first time I saw a map with "Russia" on it I legit freaked out. Meanwhile Newsweek announced that Christie's was auctioning off the Soviet space program (because there was no Internet to learn about it from) and I felt somehow troubled, as if this wasn't supposed to be how it ended but okay, here we are. I bought one of the auction catalogues last year. It's fucking appalling. End of History and the Last Man indeed. Ladies and Gentlemen, the battle hymn of the republic (1992)
Agreed. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand is pretty impressive. Just read about Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president in a long article in the New Yorker. Fascinating.
My heart aches for what our government has been and continues to put Ukraine through. What a great read, thank for you sharing that.
She's certainly charming. At the same time, there are fewer people in New Zealand than there are in Alabama... and about as many people in New Zealand as there are in British Columbia. National politics when your country is a disappointing prime-time TV audience can be a lot more agile than when you're stretched across six time zones.
You're right. New Zealand is not a major force in the world. But it is a member of the commonwealth. So maybe she can exert some influence there.The Commonwealth comprises 53 countries, across all continents. The members have a combined population of 2.4 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of whom 1.26 billion live in India, 220 million live in Pakistan and 94% live in Asia and Africa combined.
Ugh, you're so right, it was a massive bit of obtuseness on my part to not think of Zelensky. Everything I've read about him makes him sound like the best thing to come along in Ukraine for a looooong time. Well, save the whole "playing a president on TV" thing, which hits a little too close to home, but hey, turns out his heart is probably in the right place. That's why it's especially tragic that Trump has put him between a hundred rocks and a thousand hard places.
When thinking about Zelensky, I thought he's in over his head... but then I remembered the great quote from ... someone: If you're not in over your head, you won't know how tall you are. "In over your head" is an expression used by bullies and fascists to put down those who are struggling against powerful enemies.
It's a T.S. Elliot quote (I cheated w/ Google). Seems like it's true even in the event of failure. Everyone fails, life is mostly a matter of how we choose to react to those failures (so cliché, but unfortunately true). Zelensky has walked a verrrrry fine line, but the exact timing of the whistleblower's complaint finally reaching congress in early September was fortuitous. Zelensky had been effectively strong-armed by Trump, and booked a CNN slot to announce an investigation into the Bidens, but the military aid was released in the interim. It's actually another piece of evidence demonstrating how crucial the aid is considered by Ukraine. I wouldn't consider it a failure by Zelensky. He clearly didn't want to do it, but had no choice.