Years ago, Harry Nilsson wrote a "child's album) called "The Point." it was chock-full of philosophical wisdom about the nature of human behavior. Example: "you see what you want to see; you hear what you want to hear."
I am a "crime" scene investigator-- in reality a physician but I liken my job as a CSI. In my medical presentations, I would often say I am a MD (medical detective), a Charley Chan, MD, with focus on reviewing your past and current data and being able to guide you in your challenge of a cancer diagnosis.
Mike, you wrote in today's post: "The signs are there for anyone willing to see them: the escalating rhetoric, the institutional erosion, the economic brinkmanship, the framing of disagreement as existential threat."
I was part of a diplomatic delegation to the USSR in 1986 after Chernobyl. I was secreted into private homes to see patients with cancer; I sat with them in their apartments, heard what they could say openly without fear of being monitored, and noted what books they were reading. From the cab drivers I conversed with, to those people I could speak freely to, I realized the oppression they lived under. I also felt that the very same people were far better read and had a broader knowledge of many things compared to their American counterparts.
Fast-forward to 2024. I am emailing back and forth with a medical colleague in Moscow. He tells me he has full Internet access. Yet, for him, Ukraine had to be de-Nazified, and in his political perception, Putin had done no wrong. I replied to him with facts, but he would not budge. like some of my colleagues, family, and neighbors. It seems that one party or the other has been brain-washed, or "drank the cool-aid." Yet, my research about Trump has spanned 9 years as of now. I have read books written more than 20 years ago about the vile and corrupt nature of Trump (Wayne Barrett- Google him). I was appalled at the puerile utterings of Trump and the stupidity he manifested during COVID-19, about which I consider myself to have significant expertise. Where this country is right NOW is far worse than most Americans realize.
We are in the midst of a fascist administration. Due process, freedom of speech, attacks on the Press, and now threats of deportation of American citizens are here. We have a moronic and sociopathic POTUS and a GOP that either is shockingly stupid or consumed by a need for power. And we have an electorate, even those in a lower socio-ecomomic class, and who are in the very strata attacked by Trump et al. (e.g., women, Hispanics, Blacks, Veterans) who seem blind to the malignancy of the Trump/GOP rhetoric and actions.
We are in a Dicken's novel- We have seen the best of times, and now we are in the worst of times. Trump and his followers will destroy America. The land of opportunity is to become the Land of Opportunists. The electorate of any country must be fully invested in the health of a nation by its actions. It cannot stand by passively and assume a righteous, moral, and capable Captain and crew are piloting the ship of state.
"A point in every direction is the same as no point at all." My album of The Point came with a cartoon-like comic book. I will never understand why I did not frame that along with the 78 rpm vinyl. If I were teaching philosophy, I would use The Point as a starting "point." Harry Nilsson also struck a chord (pun intended) with "Everybody's Talkin'. Myself a sailor, who has put in over 6,000 miles, sailing from St. Lucia to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal, and from Tahiti to Pitcairn Island, what I would like now is to tell everyone:
I was a little girl when The Point came out. We all gathered round the tv and watched the animated show. It was wonderful and I loved it. “Me and my Arrow” - now I need to go revisit 🙏🏻
Thanks for this reply.Watching from next door it appears easy to connect the dots however at home it's unraveling in a different way.Teetering on the edge of new and better or well messed up .
I am partial to grandmas; my grandmother Anna, or Annie as we called her, was so important to my childhood. But Grandma Andrea, I have no idea what you are referring to by "watching from next door" unless next door means Moscow, China, Turkey, or one of the other countries thrilled to see Trump's trashing of democracy.
Trump is as much a "genius" as I am likely to be chosen as the next astronaut. He is playing golf while "Rome" is burning. Do not conclude I am a big fan or even a small fan of the Democratic Party. They seem best to drive me crazy with 5 texts a day asking for $$$ while not performing as they should when in power. I would have been far happier with Bernie Sanders (no BS) running for POTUS instead of Hilary. I would have hoped that Biden would have stepped down when signs of his cognitive decline grew serious enough to be blatant to the public. The Dems push too hard on LBG..... while other relatively more important issues remain unaddressed and thus unsolved (immigration, gun control, crime, cost of medicine, decline of healthcare, decline of education, inadequate pay to teachers, to police and firemen, lack of proper vetting of all those in political office, inaccessibility of those in office from local government to federal, climate change, etc).
i have shared with others my life; it is an open book. You may not wish to share details of what underlies your remark. But I am a curious SOB, so I would be happy to hear more from you.
I was born in 1942, but "for the grace of God," my parents were in America. For many of my family (Jewish), about half on my mother's side were murdered in death camps in Poland. My mother's brother was in the U.S. Army and the Jewish soldiers were allowed first into places such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. I am not sure why he showed me the black and white photos of naked bodies of children, men, women, young and old, but it must have traumatized me and the only way I could deal with it is an ongoing obsession to read all I could about Hitler, Nazism, Fascism.
Many of the Germans that were observant and knew what was coming with Hitler left Germany, while others like Schindler and many more secreted Jews out of the country and did what they could. When Trump was running for his first term, I openly expressed in a lot of my communications that Trump is a wannabe Hitler. I was not at all surprised at Bob Woodward's books confirming the demonic core of Donald Trump. In my obsession with Nazis and hatred of Jews and other non-Aryan peoples, I also read every religious text: old and new testaments, book of Mormon, the Kuran, the Tibetan book of the dead and a lot about Buddhism. I discovered the Gnostic scriptures and was moved by the Gospel of Judas since it confirmed to me the lunacy of believing that Jesus, son of God or God himself, would be prey to a mere mortal like Judas. The Gospel of Judas reveals how Jesus requested Judas to betray him- and that was, to a large degree, his mission incarnate. It made so much of the issue of anti-semitism and how ridiculous it was to blame Jews for the crucifixion as the foundation for hating Jews. Mike and I appear to have similar backgrounds in topics that have transfixed us over many years. Therefore, it is incredibly ridiculous for those who understand the philosophy of love as per Jesus's teachings in the scriptures to hear of the religious right considering Trump "the Chosen one" and likening him to Jesus. If there was ever an anti-Christ, a top candidate is Trump.
Those of us with eyes wide open and keen observers of the human "element" have seen Trump and much of the current GOP for what they are--power-hungry, self-absorbed, idolizing greed and dominion over others.
The only real question now is what can be done to remove this malignancy from the position of power he now has. Has the presumed balance of power in the three branches of government become irreparably damaged? Will voices like Mike's and others' such as mine be swept away in the night to an El Salvadorian prison?
The citizens of this country have now been introduced to Fascism. Will they embrace it, or work with LUV (Legacy, Unity, Vision) to remove it from the house that was once the hallmark of Democracy? I have been ready since Nov 11th 2024 to leave the US and seek citizenship in Spain or Portugal, or perhaps Scotland. My wife and son are not. I see myself as the German in 1938.
"Observations and remembering the past lessons from history are key to the survival of this Earth and all inhabitants.” Strum 11/14/23
I also want to leave the country. my husband is a citizen of Canada and so is our adult daughter. They could sponsor me , we are 59 and I fear my husband is afraid to leave his job and feels he will never have a job in Canada, he’s not wrong, but I’m like we will be poor but free ? I also fear the Nazis in America are fully intent on invading Canada
My situation is the opposite; my wife is from South Korea, and she loves the US. I do not speak Korean, but I would not think twice about living there. I recently traveled to Spain and found my sense of well-being much better and the quality of life superior to what I have here.
I know Canada well, having traveled from Quebec City to Vancouver, rode a bike from Banff to Jasper, and became close with Canadian patients who have seen me in medical consultations. I would not live there because my wife is much younger than I am, and the healthcare in Canada has been unacceptable based on what I have seen regarding patient care. I was sought by the U of Calgary and asked to join the faculty as an associate professor in 1984. At the time, Alberta was booming due to oil. The price of homes was exorbitant. But what decided my choice was Customs and Immigration telling me that it could take as long as 1 year to approve my entry to Canada- despite being American-born, approached by the University, and having a very strong curriculum vitae. At the very same time, plane loads of immigrants from Vietnam were readily accepted in Canada.
That said, the healthcare in the US has deteriorated dramatically- so it is, perhaps, just slightly better than Canada, but not by much. As you note, there is a growing White Nationalist population within the US and also in many parts of Europe. Those that are avowed anti-Semites will never acknowledge that Jesus, the Holy Family, and the Apostles all were Jewish, as was John "the Baptist." The teachings of Jesus are about love, contrasted with those of organized Christianity and Catholicism that are pock-marked by acts of hypocrisy. And of course, Trump, his neo-Nazi followers and much of the Evangelicals are a mockery of what Christ lived and died for.
I always seem to return to this: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (Written in December 1623, before Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, no. 6, written in 1624.
Thank you. I did download the Audible version of The Nightmare Years. Between my Audible, Kindle and Hardcover books I am set for at least two years of reading. I have to say that I am shocked that so many Americans do not see the obvious parallels between Trump and Hitler. I can only make sense of Trump with one unifying thought.
Using Google, you can find a Trump talk/babble or whatever it should be called in which he accuses Biden of being the Manchurian candidate. I was not shocked at this because malignant narcissists like Trump cannot help but declare themselves (a form of confession sans priest) through the psychological mechanism of "projection." In other words, Trump forecasts what he plans to do and who he is by accusing others first about the same thing. It is a Nazi narrative used by Hitler and his ministers of propaganda. So think of Trump as a Russian operative or agent of Putin and think of anything he has done that is not consistent with this:
1. Stall on financial and military support to Ukraine when Zelensky would not agree to take his side after Trump's perfect phone call.
2. Trump halting aid to Ukraine in 2005, coupled with the most disgraceful behavior of any American president during Zelensky's recent visit to the WH.
3. Trump's alienation of Canada and Mexico as well as his attempt to dismantle NATO.
4. Trump's use of DOGE (I describe DOGE as Destruction of Great Economy) to tear down Democracy.
5. Trump's beautiful friendship with Kim Jong-un and Putin.
6. Trump's pardon of those who attacked Capitol police and attempted to overthrow the 2020 election.
7. Trump's tariffs to further destroy America but no Tariff directed towards Russia (because they are at war, he said), yet he imposes a tariff on Ukraine.
8. Trump's violation of due process, freedom of speech, attack on the press, talk about a third term (for him or Ivanka).
9. Trump's war mongering with Denmark with his talk about taking over Greenland; and with Panama about retaking the Panama Canal or taking over Gaza.
Americans elected a madman, a zealot, a fascist, rapist, and likely a Russian operative as POTUS. Most of what I have written for the public has been about cancer, and physicians seldom get to write about political issues. But now, there is no way anyone can be pure "this" or pure "that" since politics is omnipresent in every endeavor of life. Here in America we grew fat and lazy. Too many are obsessed with glitz and glammor and accumulating "stuff." We are guilty. We neglected our Democracy, often described as "fragile" and a way of living that must be "nurtured."
Right on target, Mr. Strum! You see it, and are helping others to see it too, which is a first step to our doing something to remedy the situation. Pass the word, Everyone. #Krasnov
I am reading Wm. Shirer, The Nightmare Years 1930-40. As he had many sources and friends who opposed Hitler and had to deal with many who worked for him, his book, written largely from his diary and journalism of the epoch tell a compelling story that presages our own times. Worth a read.
I struggle daily with "seeing" things my friends don't. I feel like Cassandra. It is both heartening and discouraging to realize that someone with your depth & breadth of knowledge, and power to persuade, still finds that they are unable to overcome, in their friend's minds, the power of media lies.
Another wonderful piece, Mike. I’m heartened to see I’m not the only one who feels like Cassandra this year. I’m supposed to get married later this summer- and I’m so overwhelmed with simultaneous feelings of gratitude and terror that it’s like I can’t process it all.
One practical word- I feel like somehow, some way, FOX news needs to be stopped. The center cannot hold if a screaming megaphone of lies and propaganda is allowed to continue pushing it out of alignment. How we are to do this, I have no idea. But that seems to me to be the practical source of all this insanity in this day and age. I know there are others- but they are the pedestal upon which all the disinformants and bad actors rest.
I see it, too. Most of my fellow Americans are living life like normal, but I see the tsunami on the horizon. Just in case, I've packed go bags and am getting papers and supplies in order. I began prepping for this in November, and I saw in my spouse's loving, concerned eyes that he thought I'd lost it. But now he's beginning to see.
I hope that we can turn around this ship. I hope my bags and papers and supplies gather a thick layer of dust.
I read this article twice to make sure i understood. I’m not american so observe from afar the patterns and trends underway. In some ways i am comforted by the efforts around the world to decouple from the us. I think these actions will be successful. But on the other hand, I feel like we are kidding ourselves and that while we have heads in the sand and don’t want to ‘inflame’ the beast we are sleep walking into a global kinetic conflict. B2s in Diego Garcia are similar to Russia lining up 200,000 soldiers on the border of Ukraine a few years ago for ‘military exercises’. We want to believe in the benign descriptions of why they are there, but harbour a growing fear that maybe we should be worried.
I am elderly, with medical diagnoses that suggest i don’t have long to live. I feel incredibly guilty that i wont have to live with the consequences of events that are happening right now. I feel most guilty about my thoughts that veer towards relief that i will not be here for long. But i harbour enormous fear for my children and grandchildren children.
I am a Jew, and I am sick of all the death to the Palestinian (non-Hamas) population. I lost any respect for Netanyahu many months ago. When so-called freedom-loving nations work as a united front to destroy terrorist organizations, then I will believe the designation of Homo sapiens has credence. For now, there are far too many in our world population that are primitive beasts that have no regard for life, be it human or otherwise.
Believe it or not, JK Rowling said it very clearly 25 years ago:
"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. The ability of insane acts of random violence to spread discord and enmity is very great. We can fight such madness only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of us have suffered directly at the hands of darkness. Many families have been torn asunder. The time has come when we should remember that we have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy."
paraphrased from JK Rowling: Harry Potter (July 2000) and the Goblet of Fire- page 723-4 of the hard copy.
Thank you for this fascinating and very important analysis of the potential outcome of the tariff wars that are kicking off.
For me, the most important insight is the thought that the voters for Trump will not see the hardships as a result of his policies but by vengeful world outside.
It is easier to believe you are a victim of the"other" than to accept that your "father figure"is actually just fine with sacrificing you for his own needs.
well said, but as with everything going on now, climate change is part of the equation, and that ranges from geopolitical manouevring and strategizing to recognizing that the planet can't sustain 8+ billion people going forward. Trump may (publicly) deny climate change, but those that are using him as their front know all to well how real it is.
There is part of the Hu (human element) that is creative, has vision, a sense of legacy and sees all that is in the world as inter-connected. In other posts, I have called this LUV (Legacy, Unity, Vision). Such LUV includes love of the planet & being a steward of this wonder-full place called Earth. The existential issue (sorry, existential has become trite) is can humankind be just that. Can the the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG) overcome the false, ugly and evil in this world. What we evidence in Trump is not the former, and for sure it is the antithesis of all that Christ preached.
The irony of autocrats like Putin and Trump, and before them like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, is that what they did defaces the uni-verse. This amazing one story, this magnificent pale blue dot, should be so treasured by the masses and yet it is not. Tell me how some of my medical colleagues, a small percent of my cancer patients, 10% of my family and perhaps the same percent of my neighbors can still miss the boat when it comes to Trump, and the current GOP? I can only shake my head and say the words that were said 2000 years ago: Father forgive them, they know not what they do."
Just re-reading “The Coming of the Third Reich” and thinking the same thoughts. The parallels are stark. The surge of nationalism, elimination of all potential opposition, quotes from the diaries and memoirs of average German citizens that show how they ignored the violence and illegalities inflicted on the “other” and were inspired by their belief that Germany would be made great again. Since the first Trump term I’ve feared that given the chance he would ruin the US economy thus leading to an inevitable attempt to take over nearby countries to appropriate their wealth. This now seems to be happening. Often forgotten is that Hitler invaded Poland and started WWII as much to rescue the German economy as to advance his desire for “leibensraum” and domination of Europe. Nazi work programs and military spending left their treasury almost bankrupt and with no country willing to loan them money or extend credit by 1939. Trump appears to be intentionally trying to reduce Americans to the parlous state of the average German of the 30s who was glad of any job at any wage, even though working Germans were mostly existing below the poverty line. The longer Trump continues with his haphazard roller coaster economic policies, the greater the chance of a similar outcome.
Mike - all of this - I feel everything you write so deeply - I am also a very reluctant Casandra and it’s hard as fuck. I can’t change, I won’t change but I need to find my tribe in this terrifying place
Normalcy bias is an important contribution or idea to elevate. Events have already departed from normal by an amount that would have seemed insane 20 years ago. And yet we have trouble imagining what could happen two steps ahead. Imagining forward is helpful, thanks
It’s so interesting to read this because I simply don’t have ANY member of my family or even meet anyone who doesn’t understand the moment.
I’m curious about how someone couldn’t at this point but maybe it depends on what you pay attention to and your own sense of vulnerability. Maybe in my family, we were mildly alarmed for years, as we have seen a lot of bad stuff so we sort of had to pay attention. With all my colleagues and friends and students—they see things happening to other people around them.
I am sure that in other social worlds where you would not see any of these things or believe they would hurt anyone whom you cared about. And a lot of people I know don’t like people to be hurt whether or not they are personally connected.
It seems one would simply get it from THE REGULAR NEWS now. That wasn’t true in the past, because the media doesn’t tell us a lot of the wider social effects of power. But we read the news (if we read the news) through our own social worlds? And also, some people don’t worry so much about anyone they are not connected to. So if you do feel responsible for other people in your society, you would be much more alarmed I guess.
I feel so incredibly isolated. I've been thinking a lot about Kafka's Metamorphosis and the alienation it so aptly portrays. I finally understand that story. It doesn't comfort me to know that he wrote it just 2 years before the start of WW1. It is painful to crash against your loved ones' indifference over and over again when the world is crumbling around us.
Years ago, Harry Nilsson wrote a "child's album) called "The Point." it was chock-full of philosophical wisdom about the nature of human behavior. Example: "you see what you want to see; you hear what you want to hear."
I am a "crime" scene investigator-- in reality a physician but I liken my job as a CSI. In my medical presentations, I would often say I am a MD (medical detective), a Charley Chan, MD, with focus on reviewing your past and current data and being able to guide you in your challenge of a cancer diagnosis.
Mike, you wrote in today's post: "The signs are there for anyone willing to see them: the escalating rhetoric, the institutional erosion, the economic brinkmanship, the framing of disagreement as existential threat."
I was part of a diplomatic delegation to the USSR in 1986 after Chernobyl. I was secreted into private homes to see patients with cancer; I sat with them in their apartments, heard what they could say openly without fear of being monitored, and noted what books they were reading. From the cab drivers I conversed with, to those people I could speak freely to, I realized the oppression they lived under. I also felt that the very same people were far better read and had a broader knowledge of many things compared to their American counterparts.
Fast-forward to 2024. I am emailing back and forth with a medical colleague in Moscow. He tells me he has full Internet access. Yet, for him, Ukraine had to be de-Nazified, and in his political perception, Putin had done no wrong. I replied to him with facts, but he would not budge. like some of my colleagues, family, and neighbors. It seems that one party or the other has been brain-washed, or "drank the cool-aid." Yet, my research about Trump has spanned 9 years as of now. I have read books written more than 20 years ago about the vile and corrupt nature of Trump (Wayne Barrett- Google him). I was appalled at the puerile utterings of Trump and the stupidity he manifested during COVID-19, about which I consider myself to have significant expertise. Where this country is right NOW is far worse than most Americans realize.
We are in the midst of a fascist administration. Due process, freedom of speech, attacks on the Press, and now threats of deportation of American citizens are here. We have a moronic and sociopathic POTUS and a GOP that either is shockingly stupid or consumed by a need for power. And we have an electorate, even those in a lower socio-ecomomic class, and who are in the very strata attacked by Trump et al. (e.g., women, Hispanics, Blacks, Veterans) who seem blind to the malignancy of the Trump/GOP rhetoric and actions.
We are in a Dicken's novel- We have seen the best of times, and now we are in the worst of times. Trump and his followers will destroy America. The land of opportunity is to become the Land of Opportunists. The electorate of any country must be fully invested in the health of a nation by its actions. It cannot stand by passively and assume a righteous, moral, and capable Captain and crew are piloting the ship of state.
I remember The Point! My best friend was obsessed with it but I didn’t have the record so I didn’t quite know what was so great about it.
Omg so much of this (and Oblio is a plus
"A point in every direction is the same as no point at all." My album of The Point came with a cartoon-like comic book. I will never understand why I did not frame that along with the 78 rpm vinyl. If I were teaching philosophy, I would use The Point as a starting "point." Harry Nilsson also struck a chord (pun intended) with "Everybody's Talkin'. Myself a sailor, who has put in over 6,000 miles, sailing from St. Lucia to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal, and from Tahiti to Pitcairn Island, what I would like now is to tell everyone:
I'm going where the sun keeps shining
Through the pouring rain
Going where the weather suits my clothes
Banking off of the northeast winds
Sailing on a summer breeze
And skipping over the ocean like a stone
I'm going where the sun keeps shining
Through the pouring rain
Going where the weather suits my clothes
Banking off of the northeast winds
Sailing on…
I was a little girl when The Point came out. We all gathered round the tv and watched the animated show. It was wonderful and I loved it. “Me and my Arrow” - now I need to go revisit 🙏🏻
I have this song either on an album or a cassette. It's an all time favorite!
Amen Dr. Strum!!!
Thanks for this reply.Watching from next door it appears easy to connect the dots however at home it's unraveling in a different way.Teetering on the edge of new and better or well messed up .
Strange days indeed
I am partial to grandmas; my grandmother Anna, or Annie as we called her, was so important to my childhood. But Grandma Andrea, I have no idea what you are referring to by "watching from next door" unless next door means Moscow, China, Turkey, or one of the other countries thrilled to see Trump's trashing of democracy.
Trump is as much a "genius" as I am likely to be chosen as the next astronaut. He is playing golf while "Rome" is burning. Do not conclude I am a big fan or even a small fan of the Democratic Party. They seem best to drive me crazy with 5 texts a day asking for $$$ while not performing as they should when in power. I would have been far happier with Bernie Sanders (no BS) running for POTUS instead of Hilary. I would have hoped that Biden would have stepped down when signs of his cognitive decline grew serious enough to be blatant to the public. The Dems push too hard on LBG..... while other relatively more important issues remain unaddressed and thus unsolved (immigration, gun control, crime, cost of medicine, decline of healthcare, decline of education, inadequate pay to teachers, to police and firemen, lack of proper vetting of all those in political office, inaccessibility of those in office from local government to federal, climate change, etc).
i have shared with others my life; it is an open book. You may not wish to share details of what underlies your remark. But I am a curious SOB, so I would be happy to hear more from you.
Hello there.Well I live in Richmond British Columbia Canada. So we watch.
I live in a state of what bloody next..
We have our share of folks who deny reality.I support those who truly support humanity in all its glorious imperfections.
We are in new but very familiar times.It happens lots every 45 to 60 ish years.Thats just my take not real time numbers.
What was it like for Germans who opposed Hitler?
I was born in 1942, but "for the grace of God," my parents were in America. For many of my family (Jewish), about half on my mother's side were murdered in death camps in Poland. My mother's brother was in the U.S. Army and the Jewish soldiers were allowed first into places such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. I am not sure why he showed me the black and white photos of naked bodies of children, men, women, young and old, but it must have traumatized me and the only way I could deal with it is an ongoing obsession to read all I could about Hitler, Nazism, Fascism.
Many of the Germans that were observant and knew what was coming with Hitler left Germany, while others like Schindler and many more secreted Jews out of the country and did what they could. When Trump was running for his first term, I openly expressed in a lot of my communications that Trump is a wannabe Hitler. I was not at all surprised at Bob Woodward's books confirming the demonic core of Donald Trump. In my obsession with Nazis and hatred of Jews and other non-Aryan peoples, I also read every religious text: old and new testaments, book of Mormon, the Kuran, the Tibetan book of the dead and a lot about Buddhism. I discovered the Gnostic scriptures and was moved by the Gospel of Judas since it confirmed to me the lunacy of believing that Jesus, son of God or God himself, would be prey to a mere mortal like Judas. The Gospel of Judas reveals how Jesus requested Judas to betray him- and that was, to a large degree, his mission incarnate. It made so much of the issue of anti-semitism and how ridiculous it was to blame Jews for the crucifixion as the foundation for hating Jews. Mike and I appear to have similar backgrounds in topics that have transfixed us over many years. Therefore, it is incredibly ridiculous for those who understand the philosophy of love as per Jesus's teachings in the scriptures to hear of the religious right considering Trump "the Chosen one" and likening him to Jesus. If there was ever an anti-Christ, a top candidate is Trump.
Those of us with eyes wide open and keen observers of the human "element" have seen Trump and much of the current GOP for what they are--power-hungry, self-absorbed, idolizing greed and dominion over others.
The only real question now is what can be done to remove this malignancy from the position of power he now has. Has the presumed balance of power in the three branches of government become irreparably damaged? Will voices like Mike's and others' such as mine be swept away in the night to an El Salvadorian prison?
The citizens of this country have now been introduced to Fascism. Will they embrace it, or work with LUV (Legacy, Unity, Vision) to remove it from the house that was once the hallmark of Democracy? I have been ready since Nov 11th 2024 to leave the US and seek citizenship in Spain or Portugal, or perhaps Scotland. My wife and son are not. I see myself as the German in 1938.
"Observations and remembering the past lessons from history are key to the survival of this Earth and all inhabitants.” Strum 11/14/23
I also want to leave the country. my husband is a citizen of Canada and so is our adult daughter. They could sponsor me , we are 59 and I fear my husband is afraid to leave his job and feels he will never have a job in Canada, he’s not wrong, but I’m like we will be poor but free ? I also fear the Nazis in America are fully intent on invading Canada
My situation is the opposite; my wife is from South Korea, and she loves the US. I do not speak Korean, but I would not think twice about living there. I recently traveled to Spain and found my sense of well-being much better and the quality of life superior to what I have here.
I know Canada well, having traveled from Quebec City to Vancouver, rode a bike from Banff to Jasper, and became close with Canadian patients who have seen me in medical consultations. I would not live there because my wife is much younger than I am, and the healthcare in Canada has been unacceptable based on what I have seen regarding patient care. I was sought by the U of Calgary and asked to join the faculty as an associate professor in 1984. At the time, Alberta was booming due to oil. The price of homes was exorbitant. But what decided my choice was Customs and Immigration telling me that it could take as long as 1 year to approve my entry to Canada- despite being American-born, approached by the University, and having a very strong curriculum vitae. At the very same time, plane loads of immigrants from Vietnam were readily accepted in Canada.
That said, the healthcare in the US has deteriorated dramatically- so it is, perhaps, just slightly better than Canada, but not by much. As you note, there is a growing White Nationalist population within the US and also in many parts of Europe. Those that are avowed anti-Semites will never acknowledge that Jesus, the Holy Family, and the Apostles all were Jewish, as was John "the Baptist." The teachings of Jesus are about love, contrasted with those of organized Christianity and Catholicism that are pock-marked by acts of hypocrisy. And of course, Trump, his neo-Nazi followers and much of the Evangelicals are a mockery of what Christ lived and died for.
I always seem to return to this: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (Written in December 1623, before Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, no. 6, written in 1624.
Thanks very much for sharing yourself with us, Mr. Strum. Best of luck to you and your family! ❤️
Thank you. I did download the Audible version of The Nightmare Years. Between my Audible, Kindle and Hardcover books I am set for at least two years of reading. I have to say that I am shocked that so many Americans do not see the obvious parallels between Trump and Hitler. I can only make sense of Trump with one unifying thought.
Using Google, you can find a Trump talk/babble or whatever it should be called in which he accuses Biden of being the Manchurian candidate. I was not shocked at this because malignant narcissists like Trump cannot help but declare themselves (a form of confession sans priest) through the psychological mechanism of "projection." In other words, Trump forecasts what he plans to do and who he is by accusing others first about the same thing. It is a Nazi narrative used by Hitler and his ministers of propaganda. So think of Trump as a Russian operative or agent of Putin and think of anything he has done that is not consistent with this:
1. Stall on financial and military support to Ukraine when Zelensky would not agree to take his side after Trump's perfect phone call.
2. Trump halting aid to Ukraine in 2005, coupled with the most disgraceful behavior of any American president during Zelensky's recent visit to the WH.
3. Trump's alienation of Canada and Mexico as well as his attempt to dismantle NATO.
4. Trump's use of DOGE (I describe DOGE as Destruction of Great Economy) to tear down Democracy.
5. Trump's beautiful friendship with Kim Jong-un and Putin.
6. Trump's pardon of those who attacked Capitol police and attempted to overthrow the 2020 election.
7. Trump's tariffs to further destroy America but no Tariff directed towards Russia (because they are at war, he said), yet he imposes a tariff on Ukraine.
8. Trump's violation of due process, freedom of speech, attack on the press, talk about a third term (for him or Ivanka).
9. Trump's war mongering with Denmark with his talk about taking over Greenland; and with Panama about retaking the Panama Canal or taking over Gaza.
Americans elected a madman, a zealot, a fascist, rapist, and likely a Russian operative as POTUS. Most of what I have written for the public has been about cancer, and physicians seldom get to write about political issues. But now, there is no way anyone can be pure "this" or pure "that" since politics is omnipresent in every endeavor of life. Here in America we grew fat and lazy. Too many are obsessed with glitz and glammor and accumulating "stuff." We are guilty. We neglected our Democracy, often described as "fragile" and a way of living that must be "nurtured."
Right on target, Mr. Strum! You see it, and are helping others to see it too, which is a first step to our doing something to remedy the situation. Pass the word, Everyone. #Krasnov
I am reading Wm. Shirer, The Nightmare Years 1930-40. As he had many sources and friends who opposed Hitler and had to deal with many who worked for him, his book, written largely from his diary and journalism of the epoch tell a compelling story that presages our own times. Worth a read.
I struggle daily with "seeing" things my friends don't. I feel like Cassandra. It is both heartening and discouraging to realize that someone with your depth & breadth of knowledge, and power to persuade, still finds that they are unable to overcome, in their friend's minds, the power of media lies.
Another wonderful piece, Mike. I’m heartened to see I’m not the only one who feels like Cassandra this year. I’m supposed to get married later this summer- and I’m so overwhelmed with simultaneous feelings of gratitude and terror that it’s like I can’t process it all.
One practical word- I feel like somehow, some way, FOX news needs to be stopped. The center cannot hold if a screaming megaphone of lies and propaganda is allowed to continue pushing it out of alignment. How we are to do this, I have no idea. But that seems to me to be the practical source of all this insanity in this day and age. I know there are others- but they are the pedestal upon which all the disinformants and bad actors rest.
I see it, too. Most of my fellow Americans are living life like normal, but I see the tsunami on the horizon. Just in case, I've packed go bags and am getting papers and supplies in order. I began prepping for this in November, and I saw in my spouse's loving, concerned eyes that he thought I'd lost it. But now he's beginning to see.
I hope that we can turn around this ship. I hope my bags and papers and supplies gather a thick layer of dust.
I read this article twice to make sure i understood. I’m not american so observe from afar the patterns and trends underway. In some ways i am comforted by the efforts around the world to decouple from the us. I think these actions will be successful. But on the other hand, I feel like we are kidding ourselves and that while we have heads in the sand and don’t want to ‘inflame’ the beast we are sleep walking into a global kinetic conflict. B2s in Diego Garcia are similar to Russia lining up 200,000 soldiers on the border of Ukraine a few years ago for ‘military exercises’. We want to believe in the benign descriptions of why they are there, but harbour a growing fear that maybe we should be worried.
I am elderly, with medical diagnoses that suggest i don’t have long to live. I feel incredibly guilty that i wont have to live with the consequences of events that are happening right now. I feel most guilty about my thoughts that veer towards relief that i will not be here for long. But i harbour enormous fear for my children and grandchildren children.
Your government has privatised militia to remove immigrants and soon naughty citizens
Peter Thiel has funded trumps dictatorship and his Palintir surveillance business has probably assisted these groups too
A Google of one group points to Israel as does the clip
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18v4yDY4T4/?
I am a Jew, and I am sick of all the death to the Palestinian (non-Hamas) population. I lost any respect for Netanyahu many months ago. When so-called freedom-loving nations work as a united front to destroy terrorist organizations, then I will believe the designation of Homo sapiens has credence. For now, there are far too many in our world population that are primitive beasts that have no regard for life, be it human or otherwise.
Believe it or not, JK Rowling said it very clearly 25 years ago:
"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. The ability of insane acts of random violence to spread discord and enmity is very great. We can fight such madness only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of us have suffered directly at the hands of darkness. Many families have been torn asunder. The time has come when we should remember that we have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy."
paraphrased from JK Rowling: Harry Potter (July 2000) and the Goblet of Fire- page 723-4 of the hard copy.
Thank you for this fascinating and very important analysis of the potential outcome of the tariff wars that are kicking off.
For me, the most important insight is the thought that the voters for Trump will not see the hardships as a result of his policies but by vengeful world outside.
It is easier to believe you are a victim of the"other" than to accept that your "father figure"is actually just fine with sacrificing you for his own needs.
well said, but as with everything going on now, climate change is part of the equation, and that ranges from geopolitical manouevring and strategizing to recognizing that the planet can't sustain 8+ billion people going forward. Trump may (publicly) deny climate change, but those that are using him as their front know all to well how real it is.
There is part of the Hu (human element) that is creative, has vision, a sense of legacy and sees all that is in the world as inter-connected. In other posts, I have called this LUV (Legacy, Unity, Vision). Such LUV includes love of the planet & being a steward of this wonder-full place called Earth. The existential issue (sorry, existential has become trite) is can humankind be just that. Can the the true, the beautiful, and the good (TBG) overcome the false, ugly and evil in this world. What we evidence in Trump is not the former, and for sure it is the antithesis of all that Christ preached.
The irony of autocrats like Putin and Trump, and before them like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, is that what they did defaces the uni-verse. This amazing one story, this magnificent pale blue dot, should be so treasured by the masses and yet it is not. Tell me how some of my medical colleagues, a small percent of my cancer patients, 10% of my family and perhaps the same percent of my neighbors can still miss the boat when it comes to Trump, and the current GOP? I can only shake my head and say the words that were said 2000 years ago: Father forgive them, they know not what they do."
Just re-reading “The Coming of the Third Reich” and thinking the same thoughts. The parallels are stark. The surge of nationalism, elimination of all potential opposition, quotes from the diaries and memoirs of average German citizens that show how they ignored the violence and illegalities inflicted on the “other” and were inspired by their belief that Germany would be made great again. Since the first Trump term I’ve feared that given the chance he would ruin the US economy thus leading to an inevitable attempt to take over nearby countries to appropriate their wealth. This now seems to be happening. Often forgotten is that Hitler invaded Poland and started WWII as much to rescue the German economy as to advance his desire for “leibensraum” and domination of Europe. Nazi work programs and military spending left their treasury almost bankrupt and with no country willing to loan them money or extend credit by 1939. Trump appears to be intentionally trying to reduce Americans to the parlous state of the average German of the 30s who was glad of any job at any wage, even though working Germans were mostly existing below the poverty line. The longer Trump continues with his haphazard roller coaster economic policies, the greater the chance of a similar outcome.
For us, it feels like we are screaming into the void.
People are complacent, and complacency can be a breeding ground for ignorance.
We are on the verge of a catastrophe that has been unparalleled in history, yet… we’re sleepwalking to meet it.
The scariest part is that there is absolutey NOTHING we can do to stop it.
The wheel is turning, so “God” help us all.
I’ve been loving that Gramsci quote. I’ve been preparing for war since the election.
Mike - all of this - I feel everything you write so deeply - I am also a very reluctant Casandra and it’s hard as fuck. I can’t change, I won’t change but I need to find my tribe in this terrifying place
Normalcy bias is an important contribution or idea to elevate. Events have already departed from normal by an amount that would have seemed insane 20 years ago. And yet we have trouble imagining what could happen two steps ahead. Imagining forward is helpful, thanks
Yes. I read that during the first term. And again during lockdown. Angelus Novus paired well with Little Gidding by T.S. Eliot.
Remote viewing sucks.
It’s so interesting to read this because I simply don’t have ANY member of my family or even meet anyone who doesn’t understand the moment.
I’m curious about how someone couldn’t at this point but maybe it depends on what you pay attention to and your own sense of vulnerability. Maybe in my family, we were mildly alarmed for years, as we have seen a lot of bad stuff so we sort of had to pay attention. With all my colleagues and friends and students—they see things happening to other people around them.
I am sure that in other social worlds where you would not see any of these things or believe they would hurt anyone whom you cared about. And a lot of people I know don’t like people to be hurt whether or not they are personally connected.
It seems one would simply get it from THE REGULAR NEWS now. That wasn’t true in the past, because the media doesn’t tell us a lot of the wider social effects of power. But we read the news (if we read the news) through our own social worlds? And also, some people don’t worry so much about anyone they are not connected to. So if you do feel responsible for other people in your society, you would be much more alarmed I guess.
I feel so incredibly isolated. I've been thinking a lot about Kafka's Metamorphosis and the alienation it so aptly portrays. I finally understand that story. It doesn't comfort me to know that he wrote it just 2 years before the start of WW1. It is painful to crash against your loved ones' indifference over and over again when the world is crumbling around us.
I hear you, Vitaliy. We're in this together. ❤️