Day 3207

There is no truth anymore. It's gone. All we have left are carefully constructed narratives. Keep in mind that a narrative is just a story. I say this as a person who has spent most of his adult life constructing narratives. I'm an advertising writer. There's a good chance that I might have convinced you to buy something you didn't really need. I might of even convinced you to believe a lie. That'a what a narrative is meant to do. It's really not that hard to influence someone when you can engage their emotions.

This is why I'm deeply distrustful of politics. Politicians have become addicted to narratives, mostly because they are much more effective than looking at things objectively. I have to give the Democrats credit. They are great at creating a good narrative. The threat from Russia is genius. Not a day goes by without hearing about Russian meddling. Hmm. I can't recall the Democrats caring about Russia one way or the other since the days of John Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Democrats knew that there were still a few old school Russia Hawks in the Republican Party though, and if they could peel away a couple of them, their opponents might lose their slim majority and legislation could be blocked. It worked. Warhawks like John McCain became allies instead of adversaries and it was McCain who ended up casting the critical vote to save Obamacare.

The Republicans seem to like narratives as well. The need for a border wall is a narrative calculated to appeal to people's emotions. If you really want to stop people from crossing a border, a wall probably isn't the most effective way to do things. A wall is basically useless, but it is a powerful symbol. It got a president elected.

I wish that politicians didn't feel the need to create stories that are meant to fan the flames of human emotion. We are already a divided country and these narratives are just making a bad situation worse. A narrative that is gaining traction now is the idea that under certain circumstances it is perfectly OK to say that someone is guilty until they can prove their innocence. It doesn't seem to bother the people who created this narrative that this is exactly what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. They knew that when you combine a huge voting block with an explosively emotional issue and stir vigorously, you have a witches brew that just might provide you with the kryptonite you need.

I find it a bit distressing that many of my friends seem all too willing to burn the witch. When you abandon due process and have politicians who actively condone mob rule under the guise of resistance, all is lost. What ever happened to the preponderance of evidence standards that have guided our judicial system for so many years? Have we really returned to the McCarthy era or the dark days of the Salem Witch Trials? I thought about these things as Dash and I walked by the pathetic little circus that seems to be still taking place in the park. That's what we've got right now in this country: a pathetic circus.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3201

The unicorn has never been my spirit animal. I have always been a pragmatic, unemotional, and slightly cynical observer of life. When those "Black Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter" memes were popular, the only thing that resonated with me was an icy cold picture of the Andromeda Galaxy with the inscription "No Lives Matter." We humans think we are way too important. In the grand scheme of things, we are just a single grain of sand on the beach.

I'm convinced that if you want to see what the future is like, all you have to do is look at the past. History repeats itself, over and over again. If you want to stop global warming, you have to realize that it is caused by too many people on the planet. Solar power and carbon credits aren't going to make any difference unless you can reduce the population. It was already been calculated that it will take 1.5 earths to sustain our present population indefinitely. Doesn't that bother anybody? We only have one earth. By the same token, if you want to change people's behavior, you have to understand history. If humanity has acted in a certain way since the dawn of time, things are not likely to change overnight. The pendulum always swings both ways. If you push too hard, the pendulum swings in the other direction and attempts to restore equilibrium.

This is why today's political circus is troubling. In a raw grab for political power, some politicians pushed too hard. They were willing to ignore all laws of fairness and decency and destroy two good people's lives in an effort to get what they wanted. Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh have both become roadkill. Probably anyone who has ever known either of them is terrified that they will become roadkill too if this travesty continues.

If you upend the simple things that have kept civil society from imploding, you've got to expect pushback. Our country was built on the idea that all people are innocent until proven guilty. An assumption that someone is guilty until they can prove their innocence is going to get pushback. If you are expected to believe someone just because they say so, it is going to get pushback. I wonder if the women who want to destroy the patriarchy have really thought this through. If they succeed, 50% of the world's population will still be men.

Can you really change all of recorded history? Aristotle thought women should be slaves. Napoleon Bonaparte thought the same thing. Confucius, that wise sage who said "do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself' also said that "one hundred women are not worth a single testicle." Gautama Buddha, the guy who started Buddhism thought that women were too stupid to become Buddhists. Think that modern men have become more enlightened? Think again. Norman Mailer, one of our most celebrated writers famously said "a little bit of rape is good for a man's soul." Kurt Vonnegut, whose novels are still loved by many young women said that "educating a beautiful woman is like pouring honey into a fine Swiss watch: everything stops." It is well known that Picasso was very abusive to women. I could go on and on.

Are you really going to change all this by destroying a distinguished public servant with a loving family who has led an exemplary life? If it is fair game to go all the way back to someone's high school yearbook in an attempt to create a new narrative, where does it stop? Will we be looking at middle school behavior next? Will an eight year old kid who slapped another kid on the butt find their life ruined forty years later. This is how real fascism starts.

If you woke up this morning and discovered that a family member,  a coworker, or a friend you have known your entire life was actually on the other side, don't be surprised. A line has been drawn in the sand. Some of your best friends are now on the other side.

Let's hope that men don't ever decide that this issue is more important than football. If that ever happens, all bets are off. I don't know where this ends, but if you really want to change things, you've got to be fair. If you want to chase unicorns and change the world, I wish you well. History says it is going to be difficult. If your motive is retribution and payback, it will not end as you expect. I always tell people to be careful what you wish for and to beware of unintended consequences. They never listen.

SweetPea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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