Friends, it's a claim you hear with astonishing frequency on the Left: the world would be a much better, kinder, more equitable and peaceful place if women ran the show. Natalie Portman, rarely for a progressive, is pushing back on this notion by observing that women are "simply humans". What??? I'll accept (with misgivings) the idea that women are human, but why is an avowed leftist acknowledging that even females are capable of moral nuance? Hasn't she read up on cultural Marxism, which stipulates that criticism of women is always sexist, and women are, as a sex, by definition blameless and aggrieved? My advice to Mrs.Portman is that she rethink her position ASAP. The Left does not tolerate ambiguity. You're either good or bad, and you're either for them or against them. And, if you're against them, it's only a matter of time before they crush you underfoot. Don't say we didn't warn you, Natalie!
P.S. While we're on the topic, a legitimate riposte to Portman would be this question: don't women rule the world already? I mean, sure, they don't literally occupy the (nominal) seats of power, but they may well be the éminence grise that actually controls modern society. Consider that women are, for instance, the majority of the electorate, and their support for Joe Biden is the reason why he prevailed in the last presidential election. If it were up to men, Trump would still reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! There's a strong argument to be made that many aspects of our popular culture have been feminized, too. I'm just sayin': patriarchy ain't what it used to be...
In other news, the U.S. is inching closer and closer to default (on its debts), and Joe Biden is making it clear that it's those nasty "MAGA Republicans" who are to blame. Gee, what a shock! Even he seems to realize, however, that the sitting president just might suffer a tad politically if our economy goes down the drain. Ergo, I believe there's a good chance that this game of chicken will lead to a deal, and to Republicans extracting significant concessions from the Biden Administration -- not that we will be deflected from our path to a fiscal apocalypse all that much, or for all that long.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-declares-himself-blameless-us-defaults-debt-ive-done-my-part
Finally, many civil rights groups are warning Americans not to travel to Florida, where fascism and racism and sexism and homophobia and COVID and alligators are running rampant. These notifications are pure political opportunism, of course, but they don't change the fact that progressives are coming to believe what they're told about Florida and about Ron DeSantis. The bottom line: the vilification of DeSantis is "progressing" apace, and you can count on the fact that tens of millions of Americans are already dying to vote against him in 2024. Does DeSantis have the potential to win in '24, and to outperform someone like Trump with independents, moderates, women, suburbanites, and voters of color? Yes, he does, but no one should be naive about the tremendous obstacles that he, and any Republican nominee, would face.
https://www.newsmax.com/us/florida-ron-desantis-naacp/2023/05/21/id/1120657/
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Re: the picture: It is said that our TV signals have reached the stars. Imagine an alien civilization having signals up to, say, 1956. They may well think Lucy and "Ricky" exalted beings and "I Love Lucy" a form of worship! Just saying, " irrelevantly, irreverently and immaterially"!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Anthropological studies of past or present matriarchal societies would probably help in understanding that institution. In very primitive humanity, which despite Rousseau's eventually catastrophic dreams of an idyllic "state of nature" to which mankind should be enjoined to return, brute physical strength, predominant in males, was probably the decisive factor in survival and "well being". Evolving human institutions probably were guided by this "principle"My female cat has no respect for mice. Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, the women SS,Madame Mao,Mrs Gandhi and PM Dame Thatcher all applied organized brute power.Would it were not so but what would a disarmed world community run by women do if one woman leader decided to rearm?Oh and how would they deny men a share of power except by force? That is just what radical man haters (among them some men )dream of and strive to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteJack, I sure hope that aliens stopped getting our tv signals in 1956, because pretty much everything that got beamed out thereafter could cause them to lose all respect for us...
ReplyDeleteI agree: force rules the world, whether we like it or not. Of course, nowadays BRUTE force isn't good for much. Firepower has evolved beyond musculature. What generally sustains patriarchy, in my view, and always has, isn't brawn anyway -- it's aggression, and men have oodles of that, or at least they used to. By the way, "matriarchy" is all relative. I have my doubts about whether any society in history has been genuinely matriarchal. Matrilineal isn't the same thing.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: True, they describe different thingsbut I suppose they could coexist. I believe Hawaii and perhaps some other polynesian or melanasian cultures may have been matriarchal; perhaps some Native American tribes too and aboriginal Aussies or Kiwis.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Wikipedia offers a good survey of "matriarchy" and the nuances of the term. I would disagree with some modern feminists'assertion that a truly matriarchal society would be one of comprehensive "equality". Human nature rules that out. The man haters would jump at a chance to impose it; just imagine Hillary in charge. And probably most of the historical champions of justice have been "uniformly perfidious" men (gasp).
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: I should say most leaders in the progress toward human justice were men; women were of course heavily involved. Man haters, who assume that men are purely evil, conveniently ignore that which contradicts their vindictive biases and can stomach no thought of good men.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Re travel to Florida: Uhh, many thousands flee the ever more dictatorial leftist governed places like NY and CA. I know of no such flight from Florida. One would think it advisable for those of common sense to avoid NY and CA.Might not the real America issue its own "advisories" against the northeast and left coasts? But then, it declines to"bleat as bitter" as does the oooh so sensitive left at any insolent hint of doubt of its irrefutable justness! Perhaps Florida has been declared non grata and even a fount of "terrorism" because of the predominance of common sense governance there, yes?It is characteristic of the left, which apparently subordinates today's NAACP ( in sharp contrast to that seminal organization's past) to react to any unapologetic opposition with hyperbolic tantrum. This admonition to shun Florida fills that bill.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: You are right; now we will see how DeSantis can weather the guaranteed vicious american left onslaught on his very person, after their proven fashion.I think he is an hombre building on the pioneering example of unapologetic DJT in bidding the left "step off!!" . Nuthin wrong with that. I think the left must fear DeSantis and his already impressive record of intolerance for leftist incipient totaltarianism.
ReplyDeleteJack, if a "matriarchal" society is one in which women have substantial power and status, then maybe. If it's actually a society in which women dominate men, then, like I said, I don't believe any such society has ever existed. It would go against nature. That's not to say that men are any better than women, but we sure are bossier!
ReplyDeleteEquality=matriarchy? Give me a break! No society is egalitarian, and women are by no means less acquisitive or power-hungry than men.
Right, Jack -- the terrors of Florida don't seem to be motivating ANYONE to leave it. That tells us all we need to know.
DeSantis is about to be hit by a tsunami of scorn. I pity the man. On the other hand, he's weathered past storms admirably, and leadership of the great state of Florida (and service in the Navy) is about as good a preparation for these trials as one could get.