People sometimes find this Substack because I wrote about the film industry somewhere. While I often use films of the past to make specific points, this Substack isn’t exactly about film or the Oscars. I do more of that writing over at my website, AwardsDaily.com
I'm a conservative and was close to being a never-Trumper myself but I kept my mind open after his election to see what would happen. I watched in dismay as so many of the people I once respected seemed so consumed by their Trump hatred that they abandoned all the principles they once professed to have. I realized that much of what I thought I knew about the world was wrong and that can be very disorienting.
What Rob Reiner and never-Trumpers don't understand is that getting rid of Trump will not solve the problems that caused the rise of Trump in the first place. The clash between populists and globalists is real and it was the systematic dismissal of populist concerns by the elites in both parties that gave rise to an outsider like Trump. Because "decent" people refused to acknowledge populist concerns it was left to someone uncouth like Trump to burst the bubble.
I applaud you Sasha for being one of the few people who are capable of keeping an open mind and actually listening to what people are saying. We will need many more people like you if we are to avoid some very dark times.
This current crop of people that comprise the modern left only come around every century or so. They utopians - the same breed of cat as the Progressives, fascists and communists of the early 20th century and the Jacobins of yesteryear.
They cannot be reasoned with. They cannot be defeated. They can only be endured until they blow themselves up or wear themselves out.
In retrospect - whoever decided to cast Rob Reiner to play the roll of 'Meathead' in 'All in the Family' was incredibly insightful. He continues to master that role today in real life.
I'm a new subscriber who's somewhat on the left (depending on the issue), and no worries. I figure people across the political spectrum talking to each other is exactly what the TDS crowd doesn't want us to do, which is why I'm up for it. There's a lot that's broken in this country, but we can't fix any of it until this raging partisanship stops.
Good for you Sasha, keep it up! Your voice; along with others like Matt Taibbi, Barry Weiss, Dave Rubin, Nick Catoggio that criticize the far right as much as the far left - so refreshing (this from a mouth breathing conservative).
You know when they’ve invaded your head, and your sense of equilibrium, when you find yourself feeling like you need to apologize for liking Trump. But you see, we neither have to like Trump nor to apologize for voting for him. He simply espouses the values we feel America needs right now...he says he will do the things we all know in our heart of hearts need to be done to get our country back on track.
After watching what we all saw happen to Trump during his 4 years, I find it “almost” funny that those who denied the very existence of “The Deep State,” now argue that the hithertofore nonexistent Deep State and its cohorts in the media, big tech and social media are now absolutely essential in order to protect America from any Trump-like creature in the future!
Hence, we have Rob (once a meathead, always a meathead) Reiner arguing for Merrick Garland...of all people...doing anything necessary (legal or not) to lock Trump up so as to ensure the survival of democracy!
That kinda’ says everything you need to know about the mindset of these folks...and once you understand that, that “need” to explain yourself evaporates.
Great Substack! Sasha's been a breath of fresh air in a world that's become so smog-ridden by the mainstream news sources that only push stories that usually have a hidden agenda (and, yes, that includes Fox News, CNN and PMSNBC.)
Not arguing, just want to get a message out regarding abortion from a repub standpoint... 80% of the country is against 3rd trimester killing of babies(that is what 'abortion' is). I am a GenXer and I have only met a few people who have openly admitted they are against killing babies under any circumstance; an overwhelming majority are in support of women's health but against baby killing as contraception.
Republicans(more accurately Civic Nationalists) are loath to tell anybody what to do, we just don't want to pay for your decisions(taxpayer funded anything including the killing of babies) unless absolutely necessary(safety net, basic health care, etc.).
At each of our child births I told the medical staff if they have to save one life to save the mother.
Your work, and the others I follow on Substack and elsewhere (Krystal and Saggar) aren't the traditional Right v Left, but People versus Power Elite. Trying to get back to a place in time (if it ever truly existed) where our elected government serves the people instead of ruling over them.
Once again. Great piece. It seems your connection to like minded people continues to grow. Just keep doing what you do with your own style. It’s a winner. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Sasha, for putting your thoughts and opinions out for people like me to contemplate. I try to be open-mined and consider other view points, like I imagine you do. I voted for Trump, twice. Might vote for him again, if he's the nominee. I don't care for his personality, I find him arrogant and narcistic, but I agree with his positions more than what the other side offers. Sasha, you tied the "Four Turning" to the title of your substack but I haven't seen you discuss the subject. Do you discuss the 'turnings' somewhere else? (I recently finished reading the book)
My only critique is where you say the right is against LGBTQIA rights. Obviously many on the right are, but I found you from a comment on Bari Weiss's substack. I also read Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, and my favourite book is The End of the World is Flat by Simon Edge. There are a lot of lesbians and gays involved in this fight. I also would prefer it clarified that we aren't anti trans, and adults are adults, it's just the way activists are selling and packaging the idea to kids that they might be born in the wrong body that's the trouble.
It seems like we live in a time when the left and right are being redefined, and I think what you stated so eloquently is that most of us who have found ourselves here are here because we are populists who believe in democracy and free speech, not sexual orientation.
This message, (and others written by the few intrepid humans who overcome the primal desire for social safety to actually shake off the fog and realize they've been completely had) is truly bravery at its best. Sacrificing personal comfort, wealth and security for the ability to seek and speak the truth is the stuff that legends are made of.
I know that sounds hyperbolic, but I believe that in this time, it's people like Sasha and the other brave souls speaking up that will lead us out of these dark, twisted, hypocritical times.
“As an astrophysicist, I'm a product of institutions that are steeped in systemic racism and white supremacy,” Gosnell says. “The tenets of white supremacy that show up [in physics] of individualism and exceptionalism and perfectionism… it’s either-or thinking, and there's no subtlety, there's no gray area. All of this manifests in the way that we think about our research, and what counts as good research, what counts as important research?”
You know, I don't understand people like Rob Reiner. I've tried to sustain that level of hate and vitriol for people who have actually harmed me in real life. I can't pull it off. We only have so much energy in this life, and to waste it on that . . .
So how on earth people in the Twitterverse pull it off, I don't know. I just must be so much lazier.
I'm a conservative and was close to being a never-Trumper myself but I kept my mind open after his election to see what would happen. I watched in dismay as so many of the people I once respected seemed so consumed by their Trump hatred that they abandoned all the principles they once professed to have. I realized that much of what I thought I knew about the world was wrong and that can be very disorienting.
What Rob Reiner and never-Trumpers don't understand is that getting rid of Trump will not solve the problems that caused the rise of Trump in the first place. The clash between populists and globalists is real and it was the systematic dismissal of populist concerns by the elites in both parties that gave rise to an outsider like Trump. Because "decent" people refused to acknowledge populist concerns it was left to someone uncouth like Trump to burst the bubble.
I applaud you Sasha for being one of the few people who are capable of keeping an open mind and actually listening to what people are saying. We will need many more people like you if we are to avoid some very dark times.
This current crop of people that comprise the modern left only come around every century or so. They utopians - the same breed of cat as the Progressives, fascists and communists of the early 20th century and the Jacobins of yesteryear.
They cannot be reasoned with. They cannot be defeated. They can only be endured until they blow themselves up or wear themselves out.
In retrospect - whoever decided to cast Rob Reiner to play the roll of 'Meathead' in 'All in the Family' was incredibly insightful. He continues to master that role today in real life.
I'm a new subscriber who's somewhat on the left (depending on the issue), and no worries. I figure people across the political spectrum talking to each other is exactly what the TDS crowd doesn't want us to do, which is why I'm up for it. There's a lot that's broken in this country, but we can't fix any of it until this raging partisanship stops.
Good for you Sasha, keep it up! Your voice; along with others like Matt Taibbi, Barry Weiss, Dave Rubin, Nick Catoggio that criticize the far right as much as the far left - so refreshing (this from a mouth breathing conservative).
You know when they’ve invaded your head, and your sense of equilibrium, when you find yourself feeling like you need to apologize for liking Trump. But you see, we neither have to like Trump nor to apologize for voting for him. He simply espouses the values we feel America needs right now...he says he will do the things we all know in our heart of hearts need to be done to get our country back on track.
After watching what we all saw happen to Trump during his 4 years, I find it “almost” funny that those who denied the very existence of “The Deep State,” now argue that the hithertofore nonexistent Deep State and its cohorts in the media, big tech and social media are now absolutely essential in order to protect America from any Trump-like creature in the future!
Hence, we have Rob (once a meathead, always a meathead) Reiner arguing for Merrick Garland...of all people...doing anything necessary (legal or not) to lock Trump up so as to ensure the survival of democracy!
That kinda’ says everything you need to know about the mindset of these folks...and once you understand that, that “need” to explain yourself evaporates.
Great Substack! Sasha's been a breath of fresh air in a world that's become so smog-ridden by the mainstream news sources that only push stories that usually have a hidden agenda (and, yes, that includes Fox News, CNN and PMSNBC.)
Not arguing, just want to get a message out regarding abortion from a repub standpoint... 80% of the country is against 3rd trimester killing of babies(that is what 'abortion' is). I am a GenXer and I have only met a few people who have openly admitted they are against killing babies under any circumstance; an overwhelming majority are in support of women's health but against baby killing as contraception.
Republicans(more accurately Civic Nationalists) are loath to tell anybody what to do, we just don't want to pay for your decisions(taxpayer funded anything including the killing of babies) unless absolutely necessary(safety net, basic health care, etc.).
At each of our child births I told the medical staff if they have to save one life to save the mother.
Thanks for all of your work Sasha.
Your work, and the others I follow on Substack and elsewhere (Krystal and Saggar) aren't the traditional Right v Left, but People versus Power Elite. Trying to get back to a place in time (if it ever truly existed) where our elected government serves the people instead of ruling over them.
Fearless!!! Keep it coming!!
Once again. Great piece. It seems your connection to like minded people continues to grow. Just keep doing what you do with your own style. It’s a winner. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Sasha, for putting your thoughts and opinions out for people like me to contemplate. I try to be open-mined and consider other view points, like I imagine you do. I voted for Trump, twice. Might vote for him again, if he's the nominee. I don't care for his personality, I find him arrogant and narcistic, but I agree with his positions more than what the other side offers. Sasha, you tied the "Four Turning" to the title of your substack but I haven't seen you discuss the subject. Do you discuss the 'turnings' somewhere else? (I recently finished reading the book)
My only critique is where you say the right is against LGBTQIA rights. Obviously many on the right are, but I found you from a comment on Bari Weiss's substack. I also read Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, and my favourite book is The End of the World is Flat by Simon Edge. There are a lot of lesbians and gays involved in this fight. I also would prefer it clarified that we aren't anti trans, and adults are adults, it's just the way activists are selling and packaging the idea to kids that they might be born in the wrong body that's the trouble.
It seems like we live in a time when the left and right are being redefined, and I think what you stated so eloquently is that most of us who have found ourselves here are here because we are populists who believe in democracy and free speech, not sexual orientation.
This message, (and others written by the few intrepid humans who overcome the primal desire for social safety to actually shake off the fog and realize they've been completely had) is truly bravery at its best. Sacrificing personal comfort, wealth and security for the ability to seek and speak the truth is the stuff that legends are made of.
I know that sounds hyperbolic, but I believe that in this time, it's people like Sasha and the other brave souls speaking up that will lead us out of these dark, twisted, hypocritical times.
Every time I think the pendulum is starting to swing back to sanity, some nonense like this shows up in my news feed:
https://www.coloradocollege.edu/newsevents/newsroom/2023/professor-gosnell-combines-art-and-science-in-immersive-art-piece.html#.Y8dURkHMK3_
“As an astrophysicist, I'm a product of institutions that are steeped in systemic racism and white supremacy,” Gosnell says. “The tenets of white supremacy that show up [in physics] of individualism and exceptionalism and perfectionism… it’s either-or thinking, and there's no subtlety, there's no gray area. All of this manifests in the way that we think about our research, and what counts as good research, what counts as important research?”
You know, I don't understand people like Rob Reiner. I've tried to sustain that level of hate and vitriol for people who have actually harmed me in real life. I can't pull it off. We only have so much energy in this life, and to waste it on that . . .
So how on earth people in the Twitterverse pull it off, I don't know. I just must be so much lazier.