There once was a man who built a planter box beside his driveway. He filled it with rich topsoil and planted a garden to provide fresh, healthy, natural, food for his family. He believed that the garden would become a ongoing source of joy for his family for years. The planter box was quickly filled … Read more
Many Americans will be basing their voting decisions this year on strongly held beliefs that are complete nonsense. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that voters are stupid. I am saying that they often don’t do their homework thoroughly and are therefore easily deceived by simplistic slogans, false conspiracies, and fake outrage. Even worse, … Read more
The Republican Party has encouraged and exploited bigotry, extremism, and paranoia for decades. They have done this deliberately and unashamedly in order to acquire and keep power (and gain). Rather than present practical, useful, well-considered, policy proposals to better the lives of the American people, they have found it much easier to attract votes by … Read more
There is a branch of social philosophy that advocates for the idea that one should live in the moment. It teaches that one should “avoid expectations” in favor of simply living in the present and seeing what comes. This philosophy posits that expectations are always false because they are constructs of the mind, rather than … Read more
The most telling symptom of fascist politics is division. It aims to separate a population into an “us” and a “them.” … Every mechanism of fascist politics works to create or solidify this distinction. Jason Stanley Fascists lure honest conservatives into fascism by constantly telling them that “the left” is an existential threat to their … Read more
Fascism is a cult of the leader, who promises national restoration in the face of supposed humiliation by immigrants, leftists, liberals, minorities, homosexuals, women, in the face of what the fascist leader says is a takeover of the country’s media, cultural institutions, and schools by these forces. And that’s why you need a really macho, … Read more
On December 24, 2021 Netflix began streaming an “apocalyptic black comedy” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonarco DiCaprio. Don’t Look Up tells the story of two astronomers who are trying to warn the world about an approaching, planet-killing sized, comet. The film is a satire of how we are ignoring the climate crisis. The film lampoons … Read more
I am an educator. I have retired from the classroom (actually the school library), but I continue to teach as a Sunday School teacher and through this blog. Educators are on the front line in the ongoing war against ignorance. The battle used to be a relatively gentle one. Every new class of children and … Read more