Is this the end of the democracy experiment?

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I have a degree in Modern History, a subject weakly valued by American employers (don’t get me started!). One of my university tutors, Theodore Zeldin, was a simultaneous translator at the Nuremberg trials and a world expert on the great slump and the rise of Hitler. He spoke thirteen European languages, and  personally knew and interviewed several of the Nazi war criminals. His message was, ‘don’t think it can’t happen again. There is always a potential ruthless autocrat in the wings.’

I never thought about, or feared, a replay of those terrible Nazi years, but when a Trump administration insider commented that the current crisis was all a “bit” reminiscent of the “late” Weimar Republic, it rang a raucous bell. Uneasiness is, by definition, bad for ataraxia.  For the weak and aimless Weimar regime read the current non-functional, corrupted system and it’s chronic inequalities.

Society’s guardrails have crashed, and the volk are already bullying State leaders  with guns, even before the full effects of the pandemic have done their worst and normal people are badly affected.  What was frighteningly unimaginable could be very real.

Election day is six months away. The US may experience 25% unemployment and economic collapse. We stand to witness “between 100,000 and 240,00 American lives lost”, according to Dr. Deborah Birx, and she is a White House employee. As for the protesters, Birx labelled their conduct “devastatingly worrisome”.

Life and death are on the line, and severe economic and health effects can, and will, have unforeseen effects.  How this plays out at the ballot box remains to be seen. But history tells us: not well. You think an autocrat at the helm can never happen here? Hah!

The right prescription

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I don’t understand why prescription medicine advertisements are allowed on TV or why anyone would think of trying one of the medicines after listening to the laundry list of warnings of possible side effects. But this is definitely an exception! 

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?

Do you suffer from shyness?

Do you wish you were a better conversationalist?

Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

Do you sometimes feel stressed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident. It can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you’re ready and willing to do just about anything.

You will notice the benefits of Cabernet Sauvignon almost immediately and, with a regimen of regular doses, you’ll overcome obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past. You will discover talents you never knew you had.

Cabernet Sauvignon may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use it, but women who wouldn’t mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side Effects May Include:
Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, delusions of grandeur, table dancing, headache, dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing Karaoke and play all-night Strip Poker, Truth Or Dare, and Naked Twister.

Warnings:
The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may cause you to think you can sing.

The consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people. 

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Scotch, Vodka or Bourbon and of course Beer may be substituted for Cabernet Sauvignon, with similar results.

( From Dr. Dan Dolan, bless him!)

You should know better than this, Governor

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The Democrat governor of New York has a plan for a “Trump-proof” reopening of the Big Apple.  Andrew Cuomo has apparently hired “high-powered consultants” who will scientifically analyse the “key data points” to work out how to free up the region’s economy. And who are these brilliant consultants? McKinsey & Company, of course – a firm indirectly responsible for many of the problems America is now facing.

The reason New York has been desperately short of personal protective equipment, and other crucial medical equipment, is that every business has adopted a “just in time” inventory model that can’t handle system-wide surges in demand. The offshoring of manufacturing to Asia has also left the US without the domestic capacity to ramp up supplies of crucial items.

McKinsey was a leading advocate of both these trends. Indeed, you could call them “the super-spreader of an intellectual virus that has infected American business”. They also had a hand in the 2008 credit crunch, having actively promoted the securitisation of mortgage assets. And, according to one lawsuit, they helped “turbocharge” sales of the widely abused opioid drug OxyContin. Should we not, perhaps, be thinking about how to “McKinsey-proof” America? (Chris Buskirk, 5 May 2020)

My take: Andrew Cuomo is a good guy, very intelligent and decisive.  But everyone makes mistakes, and this is a mistake.  If anyone can point to anything McKinsey has done which is to the general benefit of the country, not just good for the rich and the big corporations (who can afford their humongous fees), please write in and inform me.

Standing up for history

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To The Sunday Times

In 1960s Oxford I would see Cecil Rhodes’s statue, think how wrong he was and walk on. That is life in an open, tolerant country: bits of our history are sticking up everywhere, and we are free to admire, condemn or laugh at them. I prefer that to a country in which public art has to conform to a prevailing ideology.  (Mike Lynch, Cambridge, UK)

My comment:  Whether it is Cecil Rhodes or Martin Luther King, or a Southern general from the War between the States, those represented are inescapable parts of history.  There are too many ignorant people who want to move or destroy statues or memorials because the don’t like the history.  That is narrow- minded.  If they studied history properly they would develop an understanding.  The problem is that fewer and fewer students study history.  History is about human motivations and behavior, not about dates or ideology.

Epicurus loathed politics then, and would do so today

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Modern politics is impossible to understand unless one understands the so-called pollution paradox – the greater the risk to public health and wellbeing a company is the more it has to spend on politics, to ensure it isn’t regulated out of existence. 

The result is that politics is dominated by the most anti-social companies and what could be called their sociopathic CEOs and the not-for-profit “think tanks” they fund.  For these people government is the perceived enemy. They are set on scrapping agencies that cost tax money and who might threaten them, and reducing the tax of  the “top people”, regardless of wisdom and equity. 

Abolishing departments such as the organisation established to plan the response to a pandemic, and lobbying for massive tax cuts is typical of the behind-the-scenes activities of the anti-social sector of the economy and electorate, preventing tax increases, indeed government, for the general benefit. Next one to be privatized – the U.S Post office? Probably.  After that Social Security…..you think I’m joking?

We end up with governments with ingrained disregard for public safety and an automatic resort to denial.  They are so used to negative thinking and hatred of any form of government intervention that when a genuine national crisis occurs the government is paralyzed and unable to move quickly or plan for the benefit of all.  The idea of benefitting the general population, especially black and latino citizens, is not in the DNA. 

Epicurus disliked party politics and those involved in them.  Perhaps his view was too sweeping, but he had a good point.  It’s hard to ignore all this and concentrate on peace of mind.