Culture Warriors category archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
PoliticalProf provides a picture of politeness.
Self-Selected 0
Gwynne Dyer notes a disturbing–and ironic–trend.
The only country in the developed world where vaccine refuseniks are more numerous is Russia, where they at least have the excuse that the state lies to them about everything all the time. Typically, however, American vaccine refusal is twice as high as in other OECD countries — and so, of course, is the COVID-19 death rate.
Follow the link for her discussion of some of its manifestations and implications.
Vaccine Nation 0
Elie Mystal minces no words. An excerpt:
The government can require people to be healthy. It cannot require people to get sick.
Via C&L, which has commentary.
The Longest-Running Misdirection Play 0
Steven M. explains. A snippet (emphasis in the original):
Democrats want to take your guns. Democrats kill babies. Rich people back the party that runs on these messages, and then that party forms a solid bloc of opposition to increased taxation on the rich.
Legacy 0
Michael in Norfolk points out that Barry Goldwater got one thing right.
Have Cake, Eat It Too 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, David Kyle Johnson explores the hypocrisy and fallacy of anti-vaxxers “my body, my choice” sloganeering. A snippet (emphasis added):
Vaccine Nation, “Words Mean What I Want Them To Mean” Dept. 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun highlights the hypocrisy.
Addicted to Rage 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Jeremy Sherman explores a behavior which he has dubbed “maladdiction,” an addiction to rage. Methinks he may be onto something.
Here’s a bit:
The more outraged we are at others, the more righteous we feel; the more righteous we feel, the more we feel duty-bound to be outraged at others. One can really rev out on that vicious cycle. It’s highly addictive.
Call it “maddiction” an addiction to getting mad for the self-purifying sensation. Maddiction is the source of common undiagnosed madness, a mental illness because, though it makes one feel purged of sin, it’s an indulgence in the greatest violation of all: Ignoring reality.
I commend the entire piece to your attention. I think it offers a perspective on dis coarse discourse.
Republican Family Values 0
Paul Krugman exposes the con (not that the conned are likely to notice). A snippet:
Republican Family Values, Maskless Marauders Dept. 0
I know that I am not the only one to notice the irony in the “Right-to-Life” party’s willingness to court infection and death, for school children no less, during a time of pandemic.
Scott Maxwell has more.
Counter-Factual 0
Will Bunch notes that it has been 52 years since Americans landed on the moon–a feat made possible by science, Science, after all, is the pursuit of fact. He considers why so many Americans now reject science (think vaccines, for example). A nugget (emphasis added):
Indeed, wealthy capitalists and the politicians who aided the backlash and rode it to victories — Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan — were so successful that distrust in science and the conspiracy theories that flow from that distrust now spread as virally as COVID-19 itself, among everyday folks on social media sites like Facebook. Albeit with an occasional booster shot from the most cynical media celebrities like Fox’s Tucker Carlson.
I commend his article to your attention.
A Woke-Up Call 0
Rich white folks want their money back from a Catholic school because it exercised what was once known as “Christian charity.” (The plaintiffs say that they want only a return to traditional Catholic values, which, I guess in their view, do not include awareness of injustice, hate, and bigotry.)
Here’s a bit of the news story; follow the link for the rest (emphasis added).
Then, as she marked up the 45-page filing by philanthropists Anthony and Barbara Scarpo against Academy of the Holy Names in Tampa, she decided someone needed to respond.
The suit, filed June 26, alleged that her old school had “become woke” by focusing too much on diversity and equity, and had strayed from Catholic teaching. The Scarpos demanded refunds of donations and tuition. They said the academy should stop billing itself as a Catholic institution.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.