Jeff Stahler for June 09, 2020

We have to get to the root of the problem.

A quarter voted for Trump, so I expect at least as many racists. That’s half the people who went to vote. So I’d estimate that half of America is racist. Strong base, prove me wrong. ;-P

Hard to call yourself a nation … with a leader who is bent on dividing its people against each other.

Americans, especially but not exclusively on the right, have been conditioned to believe that their safety and security is dependent on brutally putting down anyone who is not like them. And their greed, to try to control and own as much as they can plays a major role in supporting that belief system. The reality is exactly the opposite. People who are repressed and have more and more taken away from them will eventually revolt, often violently. Long term, stable peace and wealth are achieved by making sure as many people as possible can participate in the economy and in their human rights. It is what the Democrats have typically done and why they have always produced better results for the economy. Republican fear and greed have always led in the other direction.

One more false idol needs to be ripped down in November.

Even Trump’s base is going to crumble sooner or later. The sooner the better.

I propose a social experiment we can all do. Let’s do some profiling when we drive.

I have found that the bigger the car and / or more expensive the car, the more aggressively the driver will operate it and for some inexplicable reason, Honda drivers.

Then there is that car which is observing all the traffic laws meticulously. Driving a at safe speed, not crowding other cars, always signaling its turns and so on.

Pull up next to this car and notice who is driving. It is most likely to be a black woman. Too bad insurance companies do not take metrics based on race or black women would have the lowest premiums in the industry.

Why is this?

As a white child, I was told, “If you ever get in trouble, find a policeman.” Black children are told to avoid police. Traffic stops have been causes for beatings and killings.

Now this is just a theory based solely on personal observation, but I invite you to take a look.

A good many of us realize there is a problem.. but therein lies the rub.. not all of us do. Cultural change is hard and as history has shown.. takes a lot of time.

Forever and ever.

I do not like mutually exclusive, opposing party politics as a way to govern. There must be incentives to compromise and arrive at a consensus to have a functional nation. There must be a single goal (not two) and there should be safeguards to prevent populists/extremists from distorting facts and obstructing functional cohesive cooperative government.

While I’m not a fan of libertarians, I think they should be heard as long as they are truthful or dishonestly cherry-picking events to distort trends. For example:

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/05/larry-elder/larry-elder-mislabels-statistics-fatal-shootings-p/

https://www.politifact.com/personalities/larry-elder/

It’s for the future statue of Trump…

Nice wordplay.

It’s all about the ‘base’

True Jeff; it’s our response to it that matters.

Good one. Thanks Jeff.