Category: Politics

The Stepford Wives in Novel, Film, and MAGA Policy

Books & Reviews / Film & Reviews / MAGA cultists / Rightwing claptrap2 Comments

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They never stop, these Stepford wives;/The work like robots all their lives. That little ditty is said by Joanna, the protagonist in Ira Levin’s 1972 novel, The Stepford Wives. She said it to herself while watching a neighbouring woman through a window, as the other mechanically polishes one of her husband’s athletic trophies. It’s a tell: we are soon to learn that the neighbour is — and most of the other women in Stepford are — really a robot controlled by their husbands. Which, we know now, is the perfect MAGA wife: a sexbot that can cook and do the … click below for more ↓

The Age of Doubt

Cults / Musings / Politics / Social media issues / What I'm Reading Now3 Comments

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of scientific advancement; it was the age of flat-earthers and chemtrail fanatics. It was the age of medical discoveries; it was the age of anti-vaxxers and homeopaths. It was the age of information; it was the age of Qanon conspiracies and creationists. It was the age of liberal democracies; it was the age of rising fascism. It was the age of technology; it was the age of 5G paranoia. It was the age of reason; it was the age of fundamentalist religions. It was … click below for more ↓

Why The Great Revolt Matters Today

England and Britain / Rightwing claptrap / US PoliticsOne Comment

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Thirteen eighty-one. Almost 650 years ago in the time of Chaucer, the English people did something unprecedented: they rose up against their oppressive king and nobles. It is known today as The Great Revolt. It should serve as a lesson for the American people today to take to heart. An uprising against the dictator and his fascist administration is overdue. Trump — who started a war with Venezuela and Iran, demanding “regime change” in both — should look to his own people who are demanding the same thing at home. Many of the issues that triggered the English uprising are … click below for more ↓

Thomas More’s Words Are Still Appropriate Today

MAGA cultists / Musings / Politics / ShakespeareLeave a comment

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I can always find something in Shakespeare’s works to console, inform, delight, or move me, and more often than not, something that is remarkably relevant to current issues and events. His wit and wisdom are timeless. Of course, one often has to see them as euphemisms, allegories, or metaphors and overlook their relevance to events contemporary to the Bard. But sometimes they transcend history and stand on their own in modern times. Such is a speech found in Sir Thomas More, a play that, while not canon, Shakespeare is believed by most experts to have contributed to the revision thereof. … click below for more ↓

Trump’s Nazification of the USA

MAGA cultists / Politics / Trump fascism / US Politics8 Comments

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Project 2025 was the MAGA world’s blueprint for turning the USA into a totalitarian state run by President — now dictator in all but name — Donald Trump. But the precursor to Project 2025 was the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933 to ’45. And if you know your recent history, as everyone who cares about the way the world works should, then you will have recognized the clear parallels between what the current MAGA administration has been doing and what Hitler and his administration did in the years leading up to WWII. Project 2025 — with its unsettling commonalities … click below for more ↓

The Fakeness of Poilievre’s Leadership Victory

Canadian Politics / Politics / Rightwing claptrap5 Comments

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Mainstream media disingenuously called the vote to keep the rage-farming Trump mimic, Pierre Poilievre, on as CPC leader “a resounding endorsement.” Global News claimed “Members of the Conservative Party of Canada have overwhelmingly voted to keep Pierre Poilievre on as their leader,” without clarifying that it was only a very small percentage of CPC members who were allowed to vote, who paid to attend, and who did not represent every riding in Canada. In fact, only a small number of selected members pre-approved by the local riding association could attend and vote; ordinary members of the CPC — about 679,000 … click below for more ↓

Where is John Pym Now That We Need Him?

Politics / Trump fascism / US Politics3 Comments

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John Pym is the sort of hero we need these days; a politician who risked his life and liberty to stand up against the abuse of power by a king who believed it was his divine right to rule as he saw fit. And in opposing the arbitrary, expensive, and sometimes destructive acts of his king, John Pym became one of the leaders of the opposition against the crown, whose words and deeds eventually sparked the English Civil War. His actions helped lay the foundations of English parliamentary democracy and governance.* Pym was also one of the authors of the … click below for more ↓

How Neoliberalism Leads to Libertarianism to Mad Max

Economics / Ideologies / Politics8 Comments

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Despite its misleading name, neoliberalism is not a liberal, progressive, woke, or left-wing ideology. It is a deeply far-right economic policy that aims to benefit the rich, the businesses, and the corporations at the expense of working people. And it has done so wherever it has been implemented, which is in most Western democracies today. The word liberal itself comes from the Latin liber, meaning free. The “liberal” in neoliberal means freedom from the things that restrict business and greed: from unions, from government regulations, from taxes, from public oversight, from restrictive legislation, from responsibility and from obligation, and it … click below for more ↓

Can the USA be Saved?

Politics / Rightwing claptrap / Trump fascism / US Politics9 Comments

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The United States’ long experiment with democracy ended last year, just months shy of its 249th birthday since it declared independence from Britain. It quickly transformed itself into an authoritarian regime led by the dictator Trump almost immediately following his inauguration. By the 249th anniversary of independence, it was laying the groundwork for a police state. and soon started arresting, then executing its own citizens on the street. The US achieved full-blown fascism within the first year of Trump’s second term. Can it ever go back? But back to what? Once hailed — mostly by its own administrations and officials, … click below for more ↓

Canadians Vacationing in the USA Are Collaborators

Canadian Politics / MAGA cultists / Politics / Trump fascism / US PoliticsLeave a comment

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The US dictator Donald Trump has consistently threatened Canada’s economy and our sovereignty since his inauguration. His threats to make us the “51st state” have so offended Canadians that it brought stiff resistance from Canadians who responded by boycotting travel to the USA and not buying products and services made or produced in the USA. Let’s be clear: Canadians who still vacation in the USA are collaborators. Canadians who still support Trump are traitors. And that’s clear in the personas of the two most MAGA-loving Canadians: CPC leader and rage-farming Trump mimic, Pierre PoiLIEvre, and traitorous, anti-Canadian Alberta premier Danielle … click below for more ↓

Knee Recovery Final, and Doomscrolling, 28

Musings / Personal Reminiscences / Politics / Surgery & MedicineLeave a comment

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So it ended today, Thursday. My physio sessions are over after seven weeks. I achieved 119° knee bend and, with a push from the therapist, got to 120°, the magic number to which patients are directed to aspire, and which usually mark their graduation from therapy. There was no ceremony, simply goodbyes. They should have a bell for people to ring when they finish their course, like radiation departments have for cancer patients who finish their course. From now on, I am on my own: I am expected to continue to exercise three times a day until at least late … click below for more ↓

Recovering Knee and Doomscrolling, 27

Daily life / Memes; Internet & Social / Musings / Politics / Surgery & MedicineLeave a comment

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Tuesday morning, not long after I finished my morning knee exercises, I drove to Barrie for my annual visit to my urologist — and the surgeon who removed my cancer-riddled prostate, back in 2020. You can read more about my journey with prostate cancer here. I also visit my oncologist once a year, usually in the spring. Both visits involve a prior PSA blood test to check if I have any of that hormone showing. And I don’t. Haven’t had a positive PSA result since my surgery. What matters for me about today’s visit is that I drove there and … click below for more ↓

The Troubling Lack of Empathy Among Conservatives

MAGA cultists / Psychology & Sociology / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / What I'm Reading Now9 Comments

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Empathy is a nasty word to conservatives. Elon Musk recently showed his contempt for the very notion of considering another’s feelings, calling it “civilizational suicidal empathy.” And then, to make sure everyone knew his views, the technocrat added in an interview with fellow rightwing MAGA cultist Joe Rogan, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit.” Which means he sees empathy as a weakness he can exploit. Information-warfare.com noted, “Musk’s perspective on empathy aligns with certain ideological frameworks, particularly technocracy and the Dark Enlightenment [DE] movement. These ideologies do not prioritize empathy as a guiding principle but … click below for more ↓

What if Julian Jaynes Was Right?

Evangelicals / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / US PoliticsOne Comment

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In 1977, Princeton University psychologist Julian Jaynes published his controversial book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Hardly a title that should have captured the public imagination, but it managed to create a stir in the media, among Jaynes’ peers, as well as among other scientists. And, surprisingly for an academic work, it sold out its first printing. It went through new printings in 1990, 1993, and 2000. It was criticized, attacked, and debunked at the time, but also praised, debated and discussed. It still is, albeit not with the same vigour that attended its … click below for more ↓

The Honeymooners: The Imaginary Greatness That MAGA Wants to Return To

Culture / Culture wars / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap2 Comments

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Ever see The Honeymooners? Unless you’re at least as old as I am, it’s unlikely you ever saw the TV show when it was first broadcast in the mid-50s. It starred Jackie Gleason and, in lesser but crucial roles, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph. I was young, and today can barely recall seeing it on our TV set at the time; it wasn’t a parental favourite like some other shows, but I have since seen many episodes, most lately through the DVD set of the series. I watched several of them recently because I wanted to look back … click below for more ↓

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