Friends, I was never as obsessed with the damage done to our country by Al Qaeda terrorists on 9/11 as many conservatives -- it seems to me that we overreacted to the threat of terrorism, which has always been, in the grand scheme of things, minimal -- but nonetheless it strikes me as extraordinary how focused our country became on defeating Islamic terrorism in the immediate aftermath of those attacks, and how indifferent we are to the same threat today. We are, it seems, a people with astonishingly short attention spans and horribly attenuated imaginations. For a while after 9/11, we spent money wildly, we thrust ourselves in innumerable foreign conflicts, and we overrode many of our own liberties, because we simply couldn't imagine that any concern or challenge could be as important as sticking it to Osama. Well, fast forward to 2021, and we're as fixated on COVID now as we were on Al Qaeda then. Sure, both terrorism and viruses are nasty, and both will kill you, especially if you get spectacularly unlucky, or live life with utter carelessness, but the truth is that heart disease, and unemployment, and divorce, and moral depravity, and drugs, pose a far greater danger to the average American than terrorism or COVID ever will, or ever could. There are dangers and challenges that we face every day, and that we dismiss, or that we overlook, because of their prosaic nature. And then there are those extraordinary threats that come along very rarely, but which, because of their novelty and their peculiar horrors, rivet us and ensnare our subconscious. These burgeoning obsessions, though, are often, in themselves, more of a genuine threat and/or burden than the shadowy perils that are their putative focus. I mean, how much damage has the fear of COVID done versus COVID itself? You tell me. I guess what I'm trying to say is this: the greatest takeaway from 9/11 and its long aftermath for me is that people are dumb. And, the more frightened we become, the dumber we get. That much, I suspect, will never change.
In other news, here's a great article on the corruption that is seeping into Hollywood via Red China. "Corruption" may be a strong word, though, because for the most part China doesn't have to pay off Hollywood bigwigs. The tantilizing promise of vast profits in the "China market" is enough to convince most big studios to cave to China's demands even before those demands are made. If there's one iron rule in this topsy-turvy 21st century world of ours, it's this: the Chinese get away with EVERYTHING. Why? Because everyone wants a piece, however small, of their ever-expanding economy. It's that simple.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/how-hollywood-sold-out-to-china/ar-AAOii52
We were discussing a similar issue here at the Conley house. I think, at least for us, the big takeaway is how fast we gave up our freedoms and continue to do so. I can at least trace it back to Bush who started the Patriot Act and it just went downhill from there. Now look, the Covid issue. We were originally told 2 weeks to curb it, now its in the 2nd year and folks are like, "OH OK ETC." I don't know if folks are dumb or what it is. I guess the bigger question is what to do about it?
ReplyDeleteHi Linda,
DeleteWelcome back. Hope all is going well for you. If no other words can be described regarding Covid-19, dereliction of duty and mismanagement might fit. You might want to check out Dr. Robert Malone who is now being blasted by the left media as some sort of a "crank". His credentials are impeccable, but he has dared to challenge the party line. Check him out.
P.S. sorry for the long absence. I left Wallyworld for another job back in May when the end was NOT in sight for Covid. I also gave up the sub. teaching job as they/the county sent a letter stating I needed to be vaccinated and still wear a mask for the 2021 year. No thanks. Anyways, I am thriving/liking my job at the Wegmans Warehouse in the Grocery section. I might not be using my education to the fullest, but I do like working there. Unfort. I don't see an end to this Covid craziness. I have such high hopes for our new governor, another unfort. she has proven to be a bit of a disappointment so far.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Having experienced first hand in Chinese dominated Singapore, Chinese cultural rejection of Western film standards even in the 70s,this is my view: the Chinese may well seek to encourage further, what they regard as degrading depravity in Western entertainment. They do not intend it for consumption in their country, because understandably I think, they see it as destructive of positive societal values. But they are eager to use our weaknesses as means to erode our integrity and strength. The Chinese are accutely aware ,because of their close attention to their history, of the disgusting vices freely practiced by Westerners in China and Chinese culturally dominated lands like Singapore and the Walled City of Kowloon, Hong Kong.
ReplyDeleteAs they had the power to do so they eradicated it.Yes vice existed in traditional China but only under Chinese approbation. The Chinese think us at the least casually tolerant of frivolous voluptuaries in our midst and do, I think, mean to support that to weaken our national strength.They have a point; itseems anything goes these days and its perps leer and sneer at us!
Linda, you're right: the one constant is that our fears always get the better of us, and we stumble over each other to see who can surrender his freedoms quicker... Not a pretty picture.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I had no idea you had moved on from Walmart to Wegmans. Congrats! I hope they treat you right. One hears good things about Wegmans as an employer, but the heat on the unvaccinated is rising everywhere. Have you thought about getting a medical "excuse"? Maybe you already have...
Jack, if the Chinese regard Hollyweird as degenerate, they'll find no stronger ally than me...but my impression is that they are rationing their people's access to Western degeneracy, not cutting it off entirely. The rot that's eaten away at our moral fiber will thus affect them too. It's just a question of when and how much. Plus, the approved forms of socialist "high" culture which the Red Chinese regime peddles, while not as debauched as our muck, still rots the brain, just in different ways. There's something to be said for freedom of thought!
Dr. Waddy,
ReplyDeleteI have a medical exemption, but will wait until its mandatory to turn it in. As of August 26, my employer has decided NOT to make it mandatory and has clearly stated they will NOT. However, who knows with the recent edict from our current occupier in the WH. My employer is a nice place to work, met the Wegman family who visit regularly and who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves to work. They also provide lunch and snacks every single day. Their philosophy is employees first; Respect, caring, make a difference and empower. As the only female that works in the area I work in, let me tell you, this very true. Oh, and one better have a 'backbone' and a sense of humor, just saying. LOLOL
For those of you who might be interested, or have already seen it, the TV miniseries "The Looming Tower", based on the book by the same name, is an interesting approach to 9/11. My premise would be that we (the U.S.) are our own worst enemies when it comes to getting "screwed" by foreign powers.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack :I agree; I rejoice to live in a country with freedom of thought as it were. Some cultures are unwilling to pay the price: that is the proliferaton and expression of debauched or otherwise destructive ideas. We are willing but we should be
ReplyDeletemore attentive to the drawbacks of having made that choice. Its ironic that Hollywood slavers over the potential market they see in populous China. I'm sure they would be blithe to inundate China with their swill. But the canny Chinese discern this I think and may well ,again, see it in the light of the 19th and early 20th century rape of China by the West. That was motivated in large part by Western perception of stupendously populace China as an unlimited market. The most shameful manifestations this were Britain's infamous Opium Wars in which they forced Southern China to accept importation of British dominated South Asian opium. This caused incalculably damaging social disintegration which added mightily to China's suffering in that almost incredibly chaotic time for them. I'm certain the Chinese have not forgotten this time and all its causes. So when frantic Hollywood types seeking easy money propose extensive marketing of their wares in China, they probably view it with caution, if not a jaundiced eye. Though increased prosperity may have created popular demand for Western products I still cannot imaginethe Chinese tolerating broadcast on primetime of the stuff we see today in the US! They would at least confine such as American Gigilo or similar leering opuses, to very late night or to "red light" districts like what what we had when the common sense America prevailed upon the degenerates.
Jack
DeleteBut don't forget that it was Nixon and Kissinger who got us into the mess we are in today with and because of China (PRC). We should have NEVER recognized the PRC, so all those U.S. Corporations ran over there with our industrial base, leaving Americans high and dry.
Subsequently and consequently the PRC made tons and tons of money so they could spread their b.s. Maoist ideology around, and build up their war machine.
THE BOTTOM LINE (ONCE AGAIN), is that Nixon and Kissinger should have known better than to recognize the world's most ruthless dictatorship. The same damn thing happen in the early 1930s when the FDR administration made the fatal error of officially recognizing Stalin's Soviet Union. Seems to me, that AGAIN AND AGAIN, we are our own worst enemies.
Actually the Hollywood mob made an excellent movie back around 1966 (filmed on Taiwan at the time), and based on a book of the same name called "THE SAND PEBBLES". Really good movie about Gun Boats on the Yangtse River (spelling), and with Steve McQueen at that.
In any event, the PRC has already killed many more Chinese than they will ever kill the likes of us. Yes, the unequal treaties and all that, opium wars and whatnot, very sad, but the FACT remains that the Chinese are very good at killing each other without any help from Americans or Europeans.
Ray from Jack: The Chinese did do a job of it in killing each other during the TaiPing rebellion of the 1860s in battles which made Gettysburg look like a skirmish. The did it again in the 20th century both in the Communist/Nationalist Wars and under the murderous misrule of subhuman Mao. I think though that in dealing with the West they tend to see the West as at least exacerbating their unending Internal troubles which stemmed from yet another of China's changes of dynasty and horrid natural disasters . I liked the Sandpipers too and thought it accurate but imagine Chinese gunboats plying the Mississippi, Missouri and the Ohio; (or the Thames and the Rhine or even Tokyo Bay:) say during ourCivil War. I dunno what to think: seeing Nixon shaking Mao's bloody hand WAS unnerving though many do think it advanced detente with the Soviets.
ReplyDeleteRay from Jack: Sorry, The Sand Pebbles.
ReplyDeleteLinda, that is all great to hear! I'm glad they're treating you with dignity and respecting your freedom to choose. That takes some courage, nowadays!
ReplyDeleteRay, damn straight that we are our own worst enemies! Only America could ever defeat America. As you know, though, I disagree about Nixon and Kissinger. They were fighting the Cold War (well) and could not have foreseen the craven stupidity of their successors.
Jack, I have no idea how accurate your impression of Chinese disdain for Western decadence may be... If global patterns hold, then younger Chinese may well be entranced by our filth. I guess it's academic if they don't have the freedom to luxuriate in it, as they would in a democracy. Maybe "their betters" have it right. I guess we'll find out when the dust settles from WWIII...
As for the Chinese killing each other, sure -- they're damn good at it. The fact is, though, that one death caused by foreigners causes as much angst as a thousand deaths caused by our fellow countrymen. That math works in China no less than it does here. It may not be rational, but who ever said that homo sapiens was defined by rationality? Not me!
Dr.Waddy from Jack: I'd suggest that in the record of mass misfortune , no country suffered it more intensely than China from 1820 to 1975. Though very much of it was internally and naturally generated, Western and Japanese predation deserve blame for making it incalculably and almost incredibly worse. My Chinese Chinese history professor told us"China had hit rock bottom; it had NO hope". The Chinese diaspora of that time, from a country in which very extended family ties have enormous economic, legal and emotional importance, further demonstrates how unbearable China's plight was. To bear even some blame for a catastrophe of such proportion is to bear much! I agree with your opinion that it is human nature to consider foreign offense worse than national fault but I think China does have good cause to remember how outsiders took advantage of its temporary weakness and to resolve never again to be vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteRay from Jack: Since you brought it up , I'm going to read more about the reasons for our recognition of theUSSR in the '30s; I know nothing about why FDR did it. Was leftist Henry Wallace a factor? Was all that "Potemkin Village"and "I have seen the future and it works" dreck yet an influence on him? Was it a diplomatic power play of some sort perhaps against the newly empowered antiMarxist Nazis?
ReplyDeleteJack, China has suffered much, yes, but I find it hard to believe that the Opium Wars grate nearly as much as events in living human memory...but then again I'm not Chinese.
ReplyDeleteMy sense is that almost all Western countries recognized the Soviets in the 20s and 30s. It was Realpolitik, plus an olive branch to what many saw as a potential ally against a resurgent Germany. Was it a mistake? I dunno. I'd say recognition was an inevitability. Taking several additional steps to an active military alliance was FAR from inevitable.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: To Chinese decision makers the recent Chinese past may be of definitive importance. But to the "masses" it is certainly the reality of widespread prosperity! This should be no surprise given China's 50s 60s and 70's history. It has only by rejection of such dreamy presumption, freeing traditional Chinese entreprenuership, that China has advanced to economic
ReplyDeletevitality as it has!