I wasn’t expecting that from Levi Strauss of all people.
Martin Luther King Jr’s similar quote is that the moral arc may not be straight, but it bends towards justice. I’m far from being an optimist, but i think humanity generally progresses to better moral values. The hiccups and backlash we see are typically from people who are resistant to changes because they are more comfortable with what they grew up to be familiar in, even if it’s wrong.
Violence is only the last resort, but Americans should learn to make DIY weapons in case another civil war breaks out, because it is unlikely that Donald will concede power when the time comes.
There is an episode about robot dogs in Black Mirror…
At this stage, I am willing to go to Mars. There is less chance of techbro oligarchs wanting to destroy the world and killer robot dogs wanting to kill us. Matt Damon has also provided us with a basic manual on how to survive Mars.
The French have been refining protesting since 1790.
Trying to scare people off from voting with principle and warning of “splitting the votes” is a neoliberal propaganda. Canada and UK are also two-party systems, and yet they have third parties gaining seats. The now centre right British Labour Party tried to also do the same scaremongering in a by-election to dissuade voters from voting the Green Party, which took the torch of British leftism. And yet, the vote splitting didn’t happen, and the Green Party won by a huge margin against the right wing Reform and Labour.
America could learn a lot, instead of listening to their mainstream media who brainwash their citizens of being corralled to think within an allowed narrative. I remember a Singaporean diplomat years ago, who made a comment that even though America is nominally a free country, he finds the news and discourse to be limited and insular-- which is practically the same as listening to state-run news in countries like China.
Although, this hasn’t always been the case. One hundred years ago, third parties in America do get seats. I think the difference is that one hundred years ago, ordinary Americans were more politically proactive and engaged. One hundred years ago was the generation that ended the Gilded age and elected the Roosevelts. I don’t know what happened but my suspicion is that after World War II, when the nation experienced enormous wealth and prosperity that previous generations never experienced before, Americans have become complacent.
People pay for subscription to ask AI?
Where is the love for Chrisjen Avasarala? The UN General Secretary Queen of the Earth from The Expanse lore? The Space Iron Lady!
I admire her more than other traditional depiction of bad ass action stars who are either a man or a woman. I realised I admire mental acuity more than raw strength. Avasarala is Machiavellian but a pragmatist, and ready to get her hands dirty if needs be in spite of her privileged upbringing. Her main drawbacks though is that she is too willing to get her hands dirty, especially at the first episode when she personally oversaw the torture of a Belter in a blacksite. She was also willing to use her family image to gain political sympathy. But one could argue it’s for the greater good, not that I am excusing both of her egregious and questionable actions. As I said, she is a pragmatist after all and looks at the bigger picture and have long term scope. She was right about slowly colonising the New Worlds. Avasarala is an anti-hero but she’s right in more ways than none.
I was going to argue against this, but then you’re right. There has been regulatory capture of socdems as they became neoliberals; who keep chasing the magical “centrist” unicorn. But in reality, who they are trying to appease are the property owning base who want their property value to keep going up and up, at the expense of the youths, families and homeless, and to appease rich donors.