Thus sayeth Melody: (and I promise Piedmont Park soon).
A comment from the other daughter....
Elise, great to read your insights. I have always loved how insightful you are. We all miss you here and hope to see you soon.
In response to every political post either on this blog or anywhere else for that matter...
Once again, I may be completely idealistic and naive, but I thought that we were supposed to be working together here to try to create a better future, but all people seem to be interested in is power, money, and making sure the "others" (republicans, liberals, whites, blacks, women, men, whoever you may be the opposite of) know that they are losing. What the hell? I don't know the answers, I don't have a fix all solution that will make people wake the fuck up and understand that all they are doing is messing things up for my (and their) kids. What kind of world are my two amazing, beautiful, talented, intelligent children going to have to suffer through? I don't believe a damn word that comes out of any politicians mouth. I also don't believe anything I read anymore. I have no faith in government or the media to tell me anything near the truth. I read the comments that you write about what politicians supposedly did, or didn't do. The mistakes they made, the achievements that they did, and I don't belive a fucking word of it. Not that I believe that you (and andyone else for that matter) do not do your research and try to be as informed as you can be on this subject, I just don't believe anything I am spoon fed anymore. I am doing my best right now just to raise my kids as best as I can, but when food is becoming a luxury, it makes me wonder what the hell this is all for. I don't care about who used the filibuster the most. I don't care who is republican, democrat, liberal, conservative, black, white, man, woman, or any combination thereof. I just want someone who is going to quit being so damn greedy and selfish and fix this fucking mess!! But, once again, I guess I am just being naive to think that someone out there with any power whatsoever actually gives a damn about those of us who don't.
I won't be surprised when I hear Obama say "Let them eat cake".
Melody
Just thought I would put my two cents in....
This is exactly why I get annoyed at people going to discussion boards and throwing around a bunch of quotes and stats and numbers. People can go on the internet and find something to validate any point of view. The media has become like a bunch of fast food chains. You have the ones for people who want burgers and ones for people who want chicken, and none of it is good for you. It's become a selective process as to what kind of (mis) information you want to be fed and a democracy with an uninformed electorate isn't really a democracy in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteBrian
I couldn't agree more...forget all the labels and just fix the damn problems
ReplyDeleteRandy
There is a philosopher by the name of Jurgen Habermas that was a member on a group called The Frankfurt School. Being that they were all Jewish and that they were smart enough to appreciate what Hitler was going to do they all came to America, settled in New York and took professorships at Columbia. I could and may be will one day write a post about this group. They had a profound influence on the culture of the sixties and much more. My point here is that as far back as the 50's Habermas wrote a thesis about the media in the USA and the impossibility of democracy surviving. The basis of his premise is that everyone listens to radio and watches TV. The newspaper and the old days of the town hall meeting where current events were talked about and most people stayed fairly well informed about who and what were in control of things. With the advent of radio and TV Habermas predicted that they would become propaganda tools for the wealthy (powerful) that owned them and would use them to tell whatever narrative that suited their purposes. I would say that Habermas hit the nail on the head. We few may discuss and try and lever some truth out of the information we get, but the vast majority of Americans do not read newspapers and do little more than parrot whatever media they get fed their information from. It is very hard not to be fatalistic about our chances for a decent future knowing that this is the case and there ain't a shitload we can do about it. I try and avoid going from cynical to fatalistic because of those beautiful grandchildren that Melody and Vaylor are raising. What Melody says does carry a lot of that fatalism in it and we are most certainly being fed our info by those that own the media.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure many saw this coming. A liberal friend of mine was complaining that Obama doesn't use the bully pulpit enough and that he does not take control of his own message. He mentioned the "fireside chats" as an example. The thing is though that FDR didn't have the Blogsphere and the internet and Fox News to shit all over everything he said. Melody os a perfect example of someone whom in the course of attempting to stay informed, is being fed contradictory and confusing information to such an extant that none of it is trustworthy anymore. People in China have the same attitude about their media as well, and China is certainly not a democracy.
ReplyDeleteBrian
Trust me Butch, the Marxism of the Frankfurt School is alive and well on the Columbia campus today. For stifling dissent and contrary opinion within the academy, few universities succeed as well as Columbia. On the other hand, if one seeks to become handy with a Marxist analytic framework that invariably produces the same answer to any problem, then Morningside Heights is the place to go.
ReplyDeleteRave on Sister ! Amen . Grew up with Paul T and all the MTB guys , so I'm a compatriot of your Dad age wise . I can say it makes me damn proud when our kids echo the truth . Butch , LOVE the blog .
ReplyDeleteWage Peace - JB
Bill, Apparently you know just a "little" about The Frankfurt School. They were given the task of trying to find what aspects of the proven Failure of Marxism has validity. Marcuse (sp?) Left Columbia and wrote the basics of what Kerouac and Cassidy and the other leaders of the counter movement of the '60's. My daughter. Elise, is a graduate of Columbia. Ask her about how Columbia is stifling dissent. Have you attended class there? I have a feeling you just read somewhere about the purpose of The Frankfurt School and all that other stuff just seemed obvious. It's cool. No one is hurt. Rock on.
ReplyDeleteOops. Should have proofread that last one. Stick in leaders of the counter movement of the 60's used as there starting point. Getting away from the prudence of Victorian thought was at the top of the list and led to the "free love" of the sixties. Really stifling stuff.
ReplyDeleteoops ...."A Comment From My Other Dauther, Melody!"
ReplyDeletedaughter
Thus said Elise… “I love the fantasy she has that you are both somehow rolling in money and magically able to spearhead far-reaching social and political change.”
ReplyDeleteAnd thus sayeth Melody “I may be completely idealistic and naïve, but I thought that we were supposed to be working together here to try to create a better future, but all people seem to be interested in is power, money,”
And Now commenteth Tbow (My friends call me “T”)
I wrote a big ole response to Elise and edited it down toa simple thanks but now I will recap in this comment. But first to Melody’s except…I say join the club!!!
Now to recap for Elise (rolling in money and magically able to spearhead far-reaching social and political change.”) when I read this My immediately thought was that your dads (alone with Oteil being black {the whole social parameter thing there etc etc}) fame in itself is far more powerful than money anything money can buy and can be used as a tool to promote and bring change….(look at the stat’s 30,000+ reads and only a handful post comments that’s powerful stuff Butch!!!) I think this thought had a lot to do with why I brought up and posted the link to (that documentary “the secrete of Oz) and the monetary reform issue. And no!!! NOT THE FRIGGING GOLD STANDARD!!! (something like Lincoln’s green backs) I think (in my humble opinion) this may be the only solution to the salvation of our Nation and take the wind out of the sails of the all rich and powerful along with putting the politicians back under the rule of the people…I know it’s a very complicated issue but it sounds like a no brainer to me…
But of course like Melody I guess I’m living in a fantasy world (no malice intended Melody just a figure of speech) as we have had three out of four presidents assassinated over this issue. Lincoln, Garfield, & McKinley (for the most part over this issue it was a key factor at least)
Butch..the political philosophy stuff and ideals of each I can’t comment on… it’s way out of my league but I really enjoy reading your blog and I hope you all don’t think I’m some sort of troll or something like that. If you feel that way please let me know and I will go away…
Melody, that was the best post I've seen here. Kudos to you. And Butch! Stop being so fatalistic. Times are bad but we'll find a way out. It's not the end.
ReplyDeleteButch, I went to graduate school at Columbia with a great deal of my "class time" actually taking place in Hamilton Hall. Kind of ironic because along with Low Library, it was one of the buildings taken over in 1968 by people like Mark Rudd who were wet nursed on Frankfurt School dogma. While schools like Columbia provided an incubator for the radicalism of the Left; one finds that to this day only a grudging tolerance to any ideology that goes against that grain. Let's just say you won't meet a whole lot of professors on campus that you might fear running into again at the local Union League.
ReplyDeleteCampus intolerance for views contrary to one's own beliefs has resulted in incidents over the past couple of years such as students rushing the stage to shut down a guest lecturer; to concerted efforts to deny a professor tenure based on religious and cultural differences. Based on these and other episodes I believe Columbia could profit from Voltaire's words "I may disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it". Bottom line-stridency is never pretty-from the Right or the Left.
With all of that being said, I do have to say that I had the good fortune to study there with some very intelligent and extraordinarily talented people. I feel confident that Columbia will weather my critique just fine.
It's getting late, but I would love to get more of your perspective on the Frankfurt School, as admittedly "the little" I know glances over the influences on the Kerouacs and the Cassidys of the world, and focuses far more on the nefarious.
Bill, I want to thank you for your comments and give you my sincerest apologies for my condescending remarks. I have spent the morning doing research on Marcuse's "Eros and Civilzation" infuence on Kerouac, Ginsburg, Cassady, Burroughs, Bukowski, Corso, Ferleighetti, etc: The Beats. They did morph, for better or worse into the counter culture of the 60's; the hippies and I got my information from a lecture by Douglas Kelner. Kellner is the George Kneller Chair in the Philosophy of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He said that Marcuse "anticipated the counter culture of the 1960's" that would include I assume the sexual revolution. This is the subject of Mancuse's book written in the 50's. Dr. Kelner must have access to information I do not have. I cannot locate a single instance of any of "The Beats" giving credit to Mancuse. I will say, however, that I will continue to research this. Thank you again for your statement and again my apologies for being a smart ass. This is why I started this blog: for my edification.
ReplyDeleteReading all these opinions does one thing for me....It gives me a FUCKING HEADACHE!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly how our government operates!!!!
The bottom line is (and call it fatalism if you wish, I call it realism):
Throughout recorded history, all great, powerful, omnipotent civilizations have eventually collapsed under the weight of their own greed and sloth....What makes anyone arrogant enough to think that we (The USA)will be any different?!?!?!?....It's called "human nature" and there ain't no gettin' around it people....It's gonna eventually all come tumblin' down....The best one can hope for is you die before it fucking happens in your lifetime!!!!....Whether this is the beginning of the end or that happens 30 years from now, the end result is the same!!!....The good news is you lived in the greatest era (1945 to present)that this country will ever see and got to witness the creation and music of the ABB!!!!!
Obama has a job plan will announce in September market drops 500points in the first minute.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 2:21PM,
ReplyDeleteThe country has survived under our current form of government for over 220 years. We have had serious problems before and overcome them (and we have some great blues music to show for it). Perhaps the reason for that is that you're never more than 4 years away from making major changes to your elected representatives.
Still lingering ... said...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 2:21PM,
"The country has survived under our current form of government for over 220 years. We have had serious problems before and overcome them (and we have some great blues music to show for it). Perhaps the reason for that is that you're never more than 4 years away from making major changes to your elected representatives".
Sure, that concept has worked for 220 plus years....BUT, physical law dictates that there's ALWAYS a point of NO return when the scales tip so far in one direction that it's unrecoverable....The question is:
Are we there yet as a government/society???
The larger the population becomes,creating more self-interest, need, greed, regulation, etc., the more likely it becomes unsustainable at some point....To me that's not fatalism, it's just realism plain and simple....
Still lingering, In spite of the fact that we may change leaders every four-six years and this part of your comment..."BUT, physical law dictates that there's ALWAYS a point of NO return when the scales tip so far in one direction that it's unrecoverable"
ReplyDeleteI think this was Melody's point when she said she will never believe anything another politician says (and I feel the say way {especially about obama})
"The foremost requirement of a leader is that he be loyal and true to his promises. A society whose leaders do not adhere to values of honesty and personal integrity cannot survive....." (A Quote from Rabbi Dolgin)
Thanks for your comments Wired. The last time we were in this kind of economic mess, WWII broke out. When you look at the devastation that occurred in Europe alone and compare it to today's Europe, one is left with the thought that the "point of no return" is sort of a hazy thought.
ReplyDeleteWe can always rebuild our lives from whatever destruction we bring upon ourselves, with only one exception -- nuclear weapons. There has been no post-WWII use of nukes which tends to make the point that it's an effective deterrent to war between super powers. But what happens when Iran gets a nuke? I think we can agree that the world is in serious trouble at that point. IMHO, this is what we need to worry about more than economic problems.
What we are going through now is just a period of correction due to governmental influence in the real estate market. But the US and Europe are powerful capitalistic engines that have grown their way out of economic problems in the past. We always knew that dealing with baby boomers retiring was going to be a problem. Well, we're at that point and add to that the real estate market contraction.
It's easy to point at Obama and say it's his fault (and believe me, I'm no fan). There is evidence that CEOs are afraid to take on new growth in their companies due to new governmental regulations. This is especially true of Obamacare. But I would argue that CEOs will eventually find a way to grow their companies despite these new problems.
The older I get, the more optimistic I tend to be. Maybe it's because I've been so pessimistic in the past and have seen the sun come out the next day.
BUTCH... START BEATING THE WAR DRUM...
ReplyDeleteDOESN'T THIS PISS YOU THE FUCK OFF!!!
I WONDER HOW MANY CORPSES WILL VOTE FOR OBAMA NEXT YEAR...
The court fined ACORN The nonprofit group famous for turning graveyards across the nation into Democratic strongholds $5,000
WTF...!!!
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/18/sentencing-acorn/
Wired. If you're going to post comments here. please do a minimum of research before you do. This crap about ACORN came straight from Glen Beck. ACORN has, since its inception, been an organization whose major p[purpose is to get minorities, especially black people, registered and to the poles to vote. Since minorities tend to vote Democrat they have been targets of scandal charges by Republicans for years. To the point that they are now bankrupt. Republicans no longer have to fear ACORN and the votes that they might bring in for their enemies. Mission accomplished. Now go back and check your sources and find other sources that may give you a very different view of what happened. 'Nuff said. I said no more politics until I write about Piedmont Park. Check back tomorrow, I'll try and have it finished by then,
ReplyDeleteNot gonna get into a pissing match...
ReplyDeleteAmen to that Man!!!!
You lucky Bastard...
Enjoy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1bHaUk1CM
I'd love to drop the political talk and instead talk music with Butch. To start: Why do you think there are not many ABB-like jams bands today?
ReplyDeleteWe HAD a system...BADLY in need of maintainence...
ReplyDeleteBUT...
"IT PROVIDED A PRETTY GOOD DAMN GOOD LIFE"...
One had "ALL OF THE CONVENIENCES OF LIFE...AN
OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED...OR FAIL...DEPENDANT
"UPON YOUR ABILITY"...."
MANY.. A FORIEGN NATION WOULD "GLADLY" ACCEPT
THIS SOCIETY....!!!!
I have said this MANY times...NEVER have I received any
"support"...???
"WE NEED TO CLOSE THE LOOPHOLES IN OUR LAWS
THAT PERMIT "DEVIOUS MANIPULATION"....!!!
I hear the liberals say.. "We need to tax the rich, & give to
the poor"..?
It is NOT right that "some" have "BILLIONS".. & others havé
"NONE"...??
They "have a point"...BUT THAT CAN ONLY BE TAKEN
"SO FAR"...!!!
It is "JUST AS WRONG" for the rich to siphon off the cream,
for their greed, as it is for the poor to expect a "bonanza freebie"..!!
For YEARS...the rich have "exploited laws, gotten legislation to
screw the populace"...
NOW.. the "populace has "gotten in on the act"...& "EVERYBODY
IS SCREWING EVERYBODY"...!!!
One can ONLY guess..."WHO" will suffer...!!!
After the "BUSH CAPER FROM 2000-2008"...THE COUNTRY WAS
LEFT IN SHAMBLES...
Only "AN IDIOT WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THE JOB OF TRYING
TO REBUILD THIS MESS"...
Even in a healthy economy, to "THINK"..that you can "GIVE" a
"MIDDLE CLASS LIFESTYLE" TO A "MILLION" IRRESPONSIBLE
CITIZENS...INVITE "MILLIONS" OF THE UNSUCCESSFUL IN
OTHER COUNTRIES....ALLOW 20+ MILLION ILLEGALS TO COME
& EXPLOIT YOUR LOOPHOLES ..."IS ABSURD"....!!!!!
TheTorchBearer
Your blog is great. Great to see your new posting. Thank for the sharing.
ReplyDeleteHello. I have browsed most of your posts. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my research. Thanks for posting. maybe we can see more on this. Are you aware of any other websites on this subject.
ReplyDeleteConsulting