James Strock is a writer, political analyst, and what I would call a “thought leader.” His Substack is rich with brilliant essays on our past, present, and future.
There are so many people (including me) who are in your position. I left the left once I realized they had become radicalized zombies devoid of empathy who would destroy Western Civilization if given their way. The few years since my departure have only intensified and verified that belief. I did not think Trump was the ideal President but he was the only politician who railed against the totalitarian madness, racism and sexism that engulfed the Democrats. I am baffled by people who could support a Democrat party that hates white people, denies the reality of biological sex, warmongers, and mandates injection of toxic drugs into unwilling people. I am outraged by the Biden voters who sacked and burned once beautiful cities and left its streets littered with homeless people dying on the sidewalk with needles in their arms. I was forced to flee a city I loved that had become overrun by criminals put there by the Democrats. It is difficult not to be angry at the people who have ruined so many things that we and generations of our ancestors fought to build. Neutrality in the face of such evil constitutes complicity in the crimes, but demonizing those who share our disaffection does not help. The question is how to reach the persuadable middle without first shocking them out of their complacency.
The urgent questions are how and why did the Democrat party get hijacked by a such toxic people? I submit that leftist philosophy itself makes this inevitable, as history shows.
The admirable empathy for the poor and downtrodden leads to leftist proposals of government solutions to solve the problems of society. It seems only logical that more government programs are the answer, since humans on their own have not produced a society in which everyone thrives (at least not yet). Benevolent government should step in and make things right.
But these ideas come with an obvious downside. The government of necessity will have much more control and power. Leftists have essentially hung a shingle outside party headquarters "Sociopaths apply within". This offer of government power will not attract Mother Teresa types to run things. It will attract people who crave power and control over others. Sociopaths are experts at mimicking empathy to get what they want.
The majority of leftists genuinely want to help others. But the power will always devolve to those who crave power for power's sake. Every leftist revolution, from the French Revolution forward, has resulted in a totalitarian state. It can only end that way, since the foundation of leftist thinking is a powerful government. It is a dangerous illusion to believe this power will be used for benevolent purposes. Sociopaths and opportunists will hijack utopia every single time.
Utopian idealism is the most destructive impulse in human nature. It is sociopathy disguised as altruism. As you note it always ends in totalitarian madness. Understanding the problem does not solve it because the minds of millions of otherwise decent people are already infected with this madness. Our political system has been disabled by it. At this point our best hope is that the Supreme Court restores our constitutional republic by striking down the weapons of terror employed by the left, such as affirmative action, legal immunity of the Tech Monopolies, media censorship, protecting transexuals under Title 9, and the promotion of anti-white racism under the banner of equity and diversity. Criminal laws must be enforced and the weaponization of justice must itself be criminalized. Our Constitution was designed for the judiciary to temper the worst impulses of the other branches of government, and the Supreme Court either exercises that duty now or they will permanently lose it to the left wing mob.
Read the book "Pathological Altruism", edited by Barbara Oakley. It is not a politically oriented book; it's somewhere between a literature review and a scholarly work (so it can be a bit hard to read at times). But it provides loads of insight into the minds of liberals and leftists. My dad crystallized all of it into a simple saying: "you will be my brother or I will crush your head".
"Pathological altruism" precisely describes the delusion that has possessed the left. The Altruists are in a sadomasochistic relationship with the undeserving objects of their altruism.
It started in the thirties then became full leftist in the sixties. The irony is that the Democratic Party was the conservative party until it was taken over by crazies. Hillary Clinton was a Goldwater girl before she became brain -washed in college. Conservative Democrats left the party in droves and became Republicans. Ronald Reagan is a good example.
This is a great explanation. I'm a right- and libertarian-leaning person but from what I can tell, we are not really "right" and "left" anymore, at least not how we used to understand it. No one is allowed to live and let live. We have to accept AND CELEBRATE anything and everything that comes down the pike or else we are nazis. Doesn't matter your previous affiliation or leaning.
I can't and won't accept that. And I can't and won't accept what those people, whatever we call them, want to do and are willing to do to kids in pursuit of whatever utopia they are pursuing.
I love your writing and don't care that I don't agree with you 100%. I don't agree with a single person in my beloved immediate family 100% - why would I need that from anyone else?!
Like most young people (I’m now in my 50’s), I was approached in college to sign up to vote and vote Democratic. It’s also when I got my first credit card, Oy! I thought Democrat meant liberty and freedom and puppies and kittens etc. I was not involved or cared about politics for many years. Probably didn’t even vote until CLinton era. I could’ve been considered liberal then not sure as I was for PETA and Humane Society, very sensitive, emotional like you, and stopped eating meat 10 years ago. It wasn’t until OBama came on the scene and I started doing a deep dive that my eyes opened wide to the horror of big guberment and the lies, lies, lieS yeah. I did not vote for OBama and sorry I voted for the other guys but it was voting for the lesser of two evils IMO. I voted for DJT twice and after the crazyness of the Kavanaugh hearings I changed my voting status to Independent. As I’ve aged I’ve definitely become more conservative. I want to be left alone, live in peace, no wars, not taxed to death and the ability to work hard and make enough to take care of my family. My parents, both rendered handicapped from horrific car accidents, never took a dime from the guberment and worked until their guberment employers made it too difficult for them to continue. They, my parents, are my heroes. They went through shit, stayed married til the end (both deceased now 🥲) and have always encouraged me to push through as tomorrow will be a better day….
I’m still a tree hugger, animal lover who now eats fish and chicken, picks up litter, has a pick up truck and trailer, loves Florida, hates drugs, tattoos and “medical mandates” and this administration! I guess you can say I’m little bit from Column A and little bit from Column B but still ME.💕
I read your stuff and sometimes wish I could re-post it on facebook. I have friends who are conservative and others who are liberal. For the most part we reflect fly-over America. We are more concerned with family and friends (all friends) than we are in disagreeing. There is way too much stuff to agree on just in family and friends (oh, and I don't live in fly over America. I'm about 4 miles from the ocean in northern O.C.). I'm going to subscribe to your pay stuff, not so much because I would use it but because this is how you make a living and I don't want to be a freeloader........ Paul Moody
The truth is the truth is the truth. You may not always be right about it, but if you earnestly seek it, you will track towards the bullseye.
There are people oblivious to the truth everywhere, not just on the left and the right. Stay dialed in to the truth, and you will settle in with the best people, irrespective of what they call themselves.
Tucker Carlson has a recent refreshing interview about this. As a part of it, he talks about how he went from being bitter enemies of Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi to becoming "guests that I never interrupt. I am so honored to have them on my program." https://youtu.be/SI9OdnyvQew
Most of my favorite writers are people like yourself, truth-seekers who came from the left and are also great writers (besides Taibbi and Greenwald, Jim Kunstler and CJ Hopkins. And the lovely Naomi Wolf!)
Jeff, when you speak of truth I get it. I have spent my life honing my ability to find truth. Through education, mentors and life experiences. I have developed a fairly solid core and use it to discern the oncoming falsities I encounter daily. I used to know many, who were like-minded. My democrat friends however have lost the logic and sensibilities that I once admired about them. Most of them are formally educated with multiple degrees and work in several disciplines. It is shocking that they are afraid of the left wing mob so much that they “roll over” and flee from their common senses. I no longer want to be around any of them. I am sad that it has come to that. In my opinion they have helped the leftist elites steal “universal truths” in sciences, law and business and selfishly renamed them for themselves. I have always gravitated toward the skeptics, the head scratchers and the inquisitors. There is no challenge left in my friends anymore. They are mostly white and hate white people. Not many of them live near or are friends of those from minority communities. They sympathize with the current administration as we watch our economy dwindle. My lawyer friends hate Donald Trump and were happy to see American institutions shred him through court proceedings and impeachment. My doctor friends sit quiet and complacent while 15 year old girls are having their breasts sliced off at the recommendation of “gender therapists” and Six month old babies are being injected with unnecessary covid vaccines. I cant be part of their lives anymore. My friends on the right are standing strong with determination to guard their minds and reclaim those “universal” truths that once were. I appreciated everything you said about Truth.
Elizabeth, your experience sounds so much like mine. Finally peeling away from groups of super lefty friends , who just seemed so brainwashed and irrational, has been kind of a lonely journey, but it was my only option. I just couldn’t listen to them anymore.... constantly passing judgement on people who didn’t agree with them about everything, being completely unwilling to consider a viewpoint different from their own, their violent joking around about “ taking out” people who don’t see things their way, referring to people they have never met as “idiots “ and “morons”. Being around people who speak that way eventually just became unbearable. I lost some friends in the process, but I am so much better off.
Thanks for taking the path away from them Ann. I believe that is the only way to deal with it. If they truly value their friendship with you or me, then they will possibly look inward and reexamine their values. If they don’t care that we have walked away then both of us probably had too much of ourselves invested with them in the first place. Im for fairness, justice, love and truth and I am willing to defend my faith. There is simply too much at stake to maintain a relationship while they “cultishly” lose their minds. It is sad and frightening at the same time. You are not alone alone Ann. I pray that their sensibilities return.
Jesus isn't kidding when he talks about the broad, wide path and the narrow gate. I am glad that you have a hearty band on your travels. We are called to guard our minds, as you say.
Have you seen Naomi Wolf's substack? She just had a powerful essay describing a recent walk through the deserts of Brooklyn (what formerly seemed like a garden to her).
Thanks for posting that Redacted interview w/ Tucker. Great listen. I too was fooled by Iraq/WMD, and have evolved to see what a ruse it all was, but took me a lot longer. Today my 17 yr old daughter asked me ‘why don’t you think the news is talking about those balloons anymore.. maybe an Epstein story was shuffled by ?’ On the one hand I’m very happy she now regularly ‘sees’ the MSM for what they are. In the other, I feel sadness that the veil of ignorance I grew up under has been torn for her, she has to trouble her mind w/ the powers behind a distrustful 4th estate, and perhaps grow to feel less patriotic of America, as a result
I have a 17 year old, also. Their world will be very different from the one that we grew up in, for better and for worse.
To me, the combination of Taibbi & Shellenberger's testimony at Congress, alongside Judge Duncan's treatment at Stanford Law were very telling. The DIE dean at Stanford said, "we are training advocates here." That is very different from raising lawyers who do business, defend, and prosecute according to laws. And that's exactly how Taibbi and Shellenberger were treated. And the latest (rumor, as I haven't heard it from Taibbi) is that IRS agents were knocking on his door simultaneous to his congressional testimony.
I have lived in a blue bubble my entire life and, for the most part, adhered to the required doctrine. Politically, things started slowly changing for me 35 years ago with the birth of my daughter. You mention hating those the Left requires you to hate. And they do - if you don't hate Trump and all that is associated with the Right with the fury of a thousand suns then you are one of "Them." To maintain a semi-civil relationship with those I must (family, old friends, and co-workers) I have bullshitted them into thinking I'm apolitical. I'm not. Maybe I'm cowardly but I feel like I'm dealing with certified Pod People. There must be a way to break the spell but I'm not seeing it.
Yeah, Andrew, sometimes it's just not worth the price you pay emotionally and personally to bring certain things up...but that says more about who they are than it does about who you are.
The thing is it's totally futile. The notion of a "useful idiot" or "pod person" or whatever euphemism you choose, needs to be explored. These folks are locked in and we need to figure out a way to throw a cold glass of water in their face.
I've been reading (and re-reading) "The Psychology of Totalitarianism," by Mattias Desmet. It is really interesting and gives good understanding as to how we got here and what makes these people tick. I should say how all people tick.
It's nice to get out of the groupthink haze, and smell the roses, hear the birds chirp while appreciating a bit of sunshine. Your substack is refreshing. Thank you.
Nicely written. It expresses what I have been experiencing for 50 years. There is no political home for me, except maybe libertarianism (properly understood, and not the two dimensional strawman version the haters on the right and left love to bash). I actually don't like labels much...they get in the way of thinking clearly.
Good luck with your continued journey. I'm 65 and I feel like everyday I'm learning and growing philosophically, morally, and politically. To stop growing intellectually is to die, or be as good as dead.
I left the RINOs and Democrats when I began to learn from Ron and Rand Paul that they were a Uniparty for endless war and enslavement of the people by maximizing their dependence on government welfare in one form or another.
Sasha thanks! Your writing always resonates, and very often reflects the many loose threads that swirl around in my brain (often giving me heart burn). I’ve walked away from (and they’ve walked away from me) so many friendships, the city I called home for 30 years, and I’m still processing all of that. Your substack is kind of a solace tbh
I have always caucused with republicans because, as a Reagan democrat, I have nothing in common with the democrat party anymore. The republicans, now, use power to acquire globalist money. Both have sheperded the erosion of America.
I am therefore now a Civic Nationalist! Lol... I don't care about the narratives both parties have planted against Trump, he has proven(underlined) that he will lose money and his freedom to help make life better for all Americans which is why Molly Ball at Time described how 'the Cabal' got rid of him.
Yes. We know that Trump is the Real Deal, the one and only challenger to the status quo, by the enormous amounts of time, money, and energy they spend trying to destroy him. Warts and all, he's the only hope we have.
If the media and political parties(but I repeat myself) would have EVER treated him with one ounce of the respect he deserved things would be much better.
I voted for Obama twice & left the Dem party in 2015 to vote for Trump. I became a Trump supporter in 2015 with the start of the primaries. I appreciate most of the policies & laws he put in place & what he did. I did find his personality exhausting & the things he said bothersome.
I sincerely hope we have another GOP candidate in 2024 who is not Trump. Someone who is more civilized, doesn't put his foot in his mouth constantly & get trapped up in insult wars/useless narcissistic battles that distract and get in the way of getting things done. Not to mention, Trump is unfortunately overly prone to flattery from enemies (like Kim Jong Il, Xi Jinping, Putin, all the staff members who screwed him over & backstabbed him), which always ends up hurting him. I like DeSantis a Lot.
I also didn't like how Trump would try to pull the USA out of International Organizations if he felt he was being unfairly treated.
Because when you quit/leave, instead of staying & fighting, you lose the leadership you had & that power is then taken up by enemies. Leaving NATO, the UN, etc is not a good plan. Better to stay, be a leader, let the USA have a leadership role, join with our allies to do what's right for the world.
Ever since the 2016 election something seemed off to me about the whole situation. The debates became more about personal jabs than policy. It was like a theater show. Maybe I was just getting a bit older or wiser, and noticing the absurdity. I considered myself a progressive at that point and was a Bernie fan living in Vermont at the time.
After the Covid era and all this madness going on right now in the world, the cult-like fervor for or against Trump is strange. In all this madness I find myself truly alligned with free thinkers who are not being swept up in the narrative of either party. Even if we disagree on some things.
As a former democrat, I really like your perspective, we don’t always agree totally but I respect your position. Thank you, your substack is one I look forward to seeing.
Welcome to the Dark side. You are now what's called a libertarian. It can be lonely here, but you don't have to be a patsy for either side. They will just hammer you for not being dogmatic and in lock step with partisan politics. We need smart ones like you. Again Welcome
Well said. And I think a lot of the Tea Party libertarians went with Trump because he represented opposition to the Uniparty (ie RINOs and neo-con Democrat Party).
There are so many people (including me) who are in your position. I left the left once I realized they had become radicalized zombies devoid of empathy who would destroy Western Civilization if given their way. The few years since my departure have only intensified and verified that belief. I did not think Trump was the ideal President but he was the only politician who railed against the totalitarian madness, racism and sexism that engulfed the Democrats. I am baffled by people who could support a Democrat party that hates white people, denies the reality of biological sex, warmongers, and mandates injection of toxic drugs into unwilling people. I am outraged by the Biden voters who sacked and burned once beautiful cities and left its streets littered with homeless people dying on the sidewalk with needles in their arms. I was forced to flee a city I loved that had become overrun by criminals put there by the Democrats. It is difficult not to be angry at the people who have ruined so many things that we and generations of our ancestors fought to build. Neutrality in the face of such evil constitutes complicity in the crimes, but demonizing those who share our disaffection does not help. The question is how to reach the persuadable middle without first shocking them out of their complacency.
The urgent questions are how and why did the Democrat party get hijacked by a such toxic people? I submit that leftist philosophy itself makes this inevitable, as history shows.
The admirable empathy for the poor and downtrodden leads to leftist proposals of government solutions to solve the problems of society. It seems only logical that more government programs are the answer, since humans on their own have not produced a society in which everyone thrives (at least not yet). Benevolent government should step in and make things right.
But these ideas come with an obvious downside. The government of necessity will have much more control and power. Leftists have essentially hung a shingle outside party headquarters "Sociopaths apply within". This offer of government power will not attract Mother Teresa types to run things. It will attract people who crave power and control over others. Sociopaths are experts at mimicking empathy to get what they want.
The majority of leftists genuinely want to help others. But the power will always devolve to those who crave power for power's sake. Every leftist revolution, from the French Revolution forward, has resulted in a totalitarian state. It can only end that way, since the foundation of leftist thinking is a powerful government. It is a dangerous illusion to believe this power will be used for benevolent purposes. Sociopaths and opportunists will hijack utopia every single time.
Utopian idealism is the most destructive impulse in human nature. It is sociopathy disguised as altruism. As you note it always ends in totalitarian madness. Understanding the problem does not solve it because the minds of millions of otherwise decent people are already infected with this madness. Our political system has been disabled by it. At this point our best hope is that the Supreme Court restores our constitutional republic by striking down the weapons of terror employed by the left, such as affirmative action, legal immunity of the Tech Monopolies, media censorship, protecting transexuals under Title 9, and the promotion of anti-white racism under the banner of equity and diversity. Criminal laws must be enforced and the weaponization of justice must itself be criminalized. Our Constitution was designed for the judiciary to temper the worst impulses of the other branches of government, and the Supreme Court either exercises that duty now or they will permanently lose it to the left wing mob.
"Utopian idealism is the most destructive impulse in human nature. It is sociopathy disguised as altruism."
Hey, I like that!
Read the book "Pathological Altruism", edited by Barbara Oakley. It is not a politically oriented book; it's somewhere between a literature review and a scholarly work (so it can be a bit hard to read at times). But it provides loads of insight into the minds of liberals and leftists. My dad crystallized all of it into a simple saying: "you will be my brother or I will crush your head".
"Pathological altruism" precisely describes the delusion that has possessed the left. The Altruists are in a sadomasochistic relationship with the undeserving objects of their altruism.
It started in the thirties then became full leftist in the sixties. The irony is that the Democratic Party was the conservative party until it was taken over by crazies. Hillary Clinton was a Goldwater girl before she became brain -washed in college. Conservative Democrats left the party in droves and became Republicans. Ronald Reagan is a good example.
Well said, MDJD. The Left has long been determined to destroy every aspect of Western
Civilization, and now that it controls the Democrats it is in a position to do so. We must call them out at every opportiunity.
Ditto! 🙌
This is a great explanation. I'm a right- and libertarian-leaning person but from what I can tell, we are not really "right" and "left" anymore, at least not how we used to understand it. No one is allowed to live and let live. We have to accept AND CELEBRATE anything and everything that comes down the pike or else we are nazis. Doesn't matter your previous affiliation or leaning.
I can't and won't accept that. And I can't and won't accept what those people, whatever we call them, want to do and are willing to do to kids in pursuit of whatever utopia they are pursuing.
I love your writing and don't care that I don't agree with you 100%. I don't agree with a single person in my beloved immediate family 100% - why would I need that from anyone else?!
Agree!
Too many "conservatives" are really right-wing progressives.
Like most young people (I’m now in my 50’s), I was approached in college to sign up to vote and vote Democratic. It’s also when I got my first credit card, Oy! I thought Democrat meant liberty and freedom and puppies and kittens etc. I was not involved or cared about politics for many years. Probably didn’t even vote until CLinton era. I could’ve been considered liberal then not sure as I was for PETA and Humane Society, very sensitive, emotional like you, and stopped eating meat 10 years ago. It wasn’t until OBama came on the scene and I started doing a deep dive that my eyes opened wide to the horror of big guberment and the lies, lies, lieS yeah. I did not vote for OBama and sorry I voted for the other guys but it was voting for the lesser of two evils IMO. I voted for DJT twice and after the crazyness of the Kavanaugh hearings I changed my voting status to Independent. As I’ve aged I’ve definitely become more conservative. I want to be left alone, live in peace, no wars, not taxed to death and the ability to work hard and make enough to take care of my family. My parents, both rendered handicapped from horrific car accidents, never took a dime from the guberment and worked until their guberment employers made it too difficult for them to continue. They, my parents, are my heroes. They went through shit, stayed married til the end (both deceased now 🥲) and have always encouraged me to push through as tomorrow will be a better day….
I’m still a tree hugger, animal lover who now eats fish and chicken, picks up litter, has a pick up truck and trailer, loves Florida, hates drugs, tattoos and “medical mandates” and this administration! I guess you can say I’m little bit from Column A and little bit from Column B but still ME.💕
Love your writing!
Love the Thompson Twins reference!
I read your stuff and sometimes wish I could re-post it on facebook. I have friends who are conservative and others who are liberal. For the most part we reflect fly-over America. We are more concerned with family and friends (all friends) than we are in disagreeing. There is way too much stuff to agree on just in family and friends (oh, and I don't live in fly over America. I'm about 4 miles from the ocean in northern O.C.). I'm going to subscribe to your pay stuff, not so much because I would use it but because this is how you make a living and I don't want to be a freeloader........ Paul Moody
Hey Paul, you can post it on Facebook it's okay with me! And as of right now it's all for free so don't worry about paying.
Sasha -
Love this. Love your perspective. Many of us are here for your honest thought and the compelling way you articulate your views. Thank you!
The truth is the truth is the truth. You may not always be right about it, but if you earnestly seek it, you will track towards the bullseye.
There are people oblivious to the truth everywhere, not just on the left and the right. Stay dialed in to the truth, and you will settle in with the best people, irrespective of what they call themselves.
Tucker Carlson has a recent refreshing interview about this. As a part of it, he talks about how he went from being bitter enemies of Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi to becoming "guests that I never interrupt. I am so honored to have them on my program." https://youtu.be/SI9OdnyvQew
Most of my favorite writers are people like yourself, truth-seekers who came from the left and are also great writers (besides Taibbi and Greenwald, Jim Kunstler and CJ Hopkins. And the lovely Naomi Wolf!)
Jeff, when you speak of truth I get it. I have spent my life honing my ability to find truth. Through education, mentors and life experiences. I have developed a fairly solid core and use it to discern the oncoming falsities I encounter daily. I used to know many, who were like-minded. My democrat friends however have lost the logic and sensibilities that I once admired about them. Most of them are formally educated with multiple degrees and work in several disciplines. It is shocking that they are afraid of the left wing mob so much that they “roll over” and flee from their common senses. I no longer want to be around any of them. I am sad that it has come to that. In my opinion they have helped the leftist elites steal “universal truths” in sciences, law and business and selfishly renamed them for themselves. I have always gravitated toward the skeptics, the head scratchers and the inquisitors. There is no challenge left in my friends anymore. They are mostly white and hate white people. Not many of them live near or are friends of those from minority communities. They sympathize with the current administration as we watch our economy dwindle. My lawyer friends hate Donald Trump and were happy to see American institutions shred him through court proceedings and impeachment. My doctor friends sit quiet and complacent while 15 year old girls are having their breasts sliced off at the recommendation of “gender therapists” and Six month old babies are being injected with unnecessary covid vaccines. I cant be part of their lives anymore. My friends on the right are standing strong with determination to guard their minds and reclaim those “universal” truths that once were. I appreciated everything you said about Truth.
Elizabeth, your experience sounds so much like mine. Finally peeling away from groups of super lefty friends , who just seemed so brainwashed and irrational, has been kind of a lonely journey, but it was my only option. I just couldn’t listen to them anymore.... constantly passing judgement on people who didn’t agree with them about everything, being completely unwilling to consider a viewpoint different from their own, their violent joking around about “ taking out” people who don’t see things their way, referring to people they have never met as “idiots “ and “morons”. Being around people who speak that way eventually just became unbearable. I lost some friends in the process, but I am so much better off.
Thanks for taking the path away from them Ann. I believe that is the only way to deal with it. If they truly value their friendship with you or me, then they will possibly look inward and reexamine their values. If they don’t care that we have walked away then both of us probably had too much of ourselves invested with them in the first place. Im for fairness, justice, love and truth and I am willing to defend my faith. There is simply too much at stake to maintain a relationship while they “cultishly” lose their minds. It is sad and frightening at the same time. You are not alone alone Ann. I pray that their sensibilities return.
It is hard to go through.
Jesus isn't kidding when he talks about the broad, wide path and the narrow gate. I am glad that you have a hearty band on your travels. We are called to guard our minds, as you say.
Have you seen Naomi Wolf's substack? She just had a powerful essay describing a recent walk through the deserts of Brooklyn (what formerly seemed like a garden to her).
Nice post. "They are mostly white and hate white people." Indeed.
One side is for child mutilation and post-birth baby killing...
At the basic level we should all defend our Bill of Rights, the rest is politics and narratives that we need to question and stand up to.
Respectfully.
Thanks for posting that Redacted interview w/ Tucker. Great listen. I too was fooled by Iraq/WMD, and have evolved to see what a ruse it all was, but took me a lot longer. Today my 17 yr old daughter asked me ‘why don’t you think the news is talking about those balloons anymore.. maybe an Epstein story was shuffled by ?’ On the one hand I’m very happy she now regularly ‘sees’ the MSM for what they are. In the other, I feel sadness that the veil of ignorance I grew up under has been torn for her, she has to trouble her mind w/ the powers behind a distrustful 4th estate, and perhaps grow to feel less patriotic of America, as a result
You are welcome.
I have a 17 year old, also. Their world will be very different from the one that we grew up in, for better and for worse.
To me, the combination of Taibbi & Shellenberger's testimony at Congress, alongside Judge Duncan's treatment at Stanford Law were very telling. The DIE dean at Stanford said, "we are training advocates here." That is very different from raising lawyers who do business, defend, and prosecute according to laws. And that's exactly how Taibbi and Shellenberger were treated. And the latest (rumor, as I haven't heard it from Taibbi) is that IRS agents were knocking on his door simultaneous to his congressional testimony.
Aleks from Black Mountain Analyis laid out the path to totalitarianism over the weekend. It sounds familiar. https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/economics-and-empires-3
I have lived in a blue bubble my entire life and, for the most part, adhered to the required doctrine. Politically, things started slowly changing for me 35 years ago with the birth of my daughter. You mention hating those the Left requires you to hate. And they do - if you don't hate Trump and all that is associated with the Right with the fury of a thousand suns then you are one of "Them." To maintain a semi-civil relationship with those I must (family, old friends, and co-workers) I have bullshitted them into thinking I'm apolitical. I'm not. Maybe I'm cowardly but I feel like I'm dealing with certified Pod People. There must be a way to break the spell but I'm not seeing it.
Yeah, Andrew, sometimes it's just not worth the price you pay emotionally and personally to bring certain things up...but that says more about who they are than it does about who you are.
The thing is it's totally futile. The notion of a "useful idiot" or "pod person" or whatever euphemism you choose, needs to be explored. These folks are locked in and we need to figure out a way to throw a cold glass of water in their face.
So many of us are dealing with this now, present company included. We need a site that both addresses this problem and suggests ways to deal with it.
I've been reading (and re-reading) "The Psychology of Totalitarianism," by Mattias Desmet. It is really interesting and gives good understanding as to how we got here and what makes these people tick. I should say how all people tick.
Such an excellent book. Life changing.
It's nice to get out of the groupthink haze, and smell the roses, hear the birds chirp while appreciating a bit of sunshine. Your substack is refreshing. Thank you.
Nicely written. It expresses what I have been experiencing for 50 years. There is no political home for me, except maybe libertarianism (properly understood, and not the two dimensional strawman version the haters on the right and left love to bash). I actually don't like labels much...they get in the way of thinking clearly.
Good luck with your continued journey. I'm 65 and I feel like everyday I'm learning and growing philosophically, morally, and politically. To stop growing intellectually is to die, or be as good as dead.
I left the RINOs and Democrats when I began to learn from Ron and Rand Paul that they were a Uniparty for endless war and enslavement of the people by maximizing their dependence on government welfare in one form or another.
Sasha thanks! Your writing always resonates, and very often reflects the many loose threads that swirl around in my brain (often giving me heart burn). I’ve walked away from (and they’ve walked away from me) so many friendships, the city I called home for 30 years, and I’m still processing all of that. Your substack is kind of a solace tbh
Sasha, you are really just a normal person, but with the ability to say that the emperor has no clothes .
I have always caucused with republicans because, as a Reagan democrat, I have nothing in common with the democrat party anymore. The republicans, now, use power to acquire globalist money. Both have sheperded the erosion of America.
I am therefore now a Civic Nationalist! Lol... I don't care about the narratives both parties have planted against Trump, he has proven(underlined) that he will lose money and his freedom to help make life better for all Americans which is why Molly Ball at Time described how 'the Cabal' got rid of him.
This is the true Donald:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/08/19/the-day-i-went-head-to-head-with-donald-trump/?sh=72eb8cae58be
Yes. We know that Trump is the Real Deal, the one and only challenger to the status quo, by the enormous amounts of time, money, and energy they spend trying to destroy him. Warts and all, he's the only hope we have.
This politics stuff is complicated...
I have always asked "who DOESN'T have warts..."
If the media and political parties(but I repeat myself) would have EVER treated him with one ounce of the respect he deserved things would be much better.
I voted for Obama twice & left the Dem party in 2015 to vote for Trump. I became a Trump supporter in 2015 with the start of the primaries. I appreciate most of the policies & laws he put in place & what he did. I did find his personality exhausting & the things he said bothersome.
I sincerely hope we have another GOP candidate in 2024 who is not Trump. Someone who is more civilized, doesn't put his foot in his mouth constantly & get trapped up in insult wars/useless narcissistic battles that distract and get in the way of getting things done. Not to mention, Trump is unfortunately overly prone to flattery from enemies (like Kim Jong Il, Xi Jinping, Putin, all the staff members who screwed him over & backstabbed him), which always ends up hurting him. I like DeSantis a Lot.
I also didn't like how Trump would try to pull the USA out of International Organizations if he felt he was being unfairly treated.
Because when you quit/leave, instead of staying & fighting, you lose the leadership you had & that power is then taken up by enemies. Leaving NATO, the UN, etc is not a good plan. Better to stay, be a leader, let the USA have a leadership role, join with our allies to do what's right for the world.
Ever since the 2016 election something seemed off to me about the whole situation. The debates became more about personal jabs than policy. It was like a theater show. Maybe I was just getting a bit older or wiser, and noticing the absurdity. I considered myself a progressive at that point and was a Bernie fan living in Vermont at the time.
After the Covid era and all this madness going on right now in the world, the cult-like fervor for or against Trump is strange. In all this madness I find myself truly alligned with free thinkers who are not being swept up in the narrative of either party. Even if we disagree on some things.
As a former democrat, I really like your perspective, we don’t always agree totally but I respect your position. Thank you, your substack is one I look forward to seeing.
Welcome to the Dark side. You are now what's called a libertarian. It can be lonely here, but you don't have to be a patsy for either side. They will just hammer you for not being dogmatic and in lock step with partisan politics. We need smart ones like you. Again Welcome
Well said. And I think a lot of the Tea Party libertarians went with Trump because he represented opposition to the Uniparty (ie RINOs and neo-con Democrat Party).