RE: One of Those Moments in Time: Musings on a Failed Assassination
Well... Since you've asked... ;-))
Trump is not a good president. He's not as stupid as he pretends to be, but he's not good for the country or the office. Biden is not a good president either. I could have imagined two who would have brought real change for the better: one so old that he won't run (Bernie Sanders) and the other so young that she won't be elected (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ). There will still be no good president in the USA. Not there and not in many countries around the world either. The really good politicians will no longer have any influence...
None of this justifies an assassination. It is not for one person to take the life of another. Not even a dictator whose death might have saved many lives or a serious criminal who would never be free again. By killing a person out of a perceived moral superiority, you make yourself common with that person, you put yourself on the same level as that which you reject. Killing a person is not legitimate. It would still be debatable on demand, but that is not the issue here.
Who did it...? I have no idea. I may have speculations on offer, but they are irrelevant. Killing people should simply no longer be part of the spectrum of human problem-solving strategies.
Oh, I'm totally with you. Not only does it seem unjustified, it might have been counter-productive as well. Nothing good would've come of it. Just more radicalization, bitterness, and conflict. Personally I'm tired of the false dichotomies urging people to take a side, like we're trappend in eternal gang wafare, rather than trying to accomplish detante. But then I figure this itself might be seen as some kind of radical statement. Sometimes you probably do have to pick sides, but this isn't it imo, but rather it appears like a spin on 1984s and the Two Minutes of Hate. Or as they say, if you know who your enemy is, your day will have structure. I'm paraphrasing, but you know what I mean?
What I found interesting is how the footage was showing audience members who more or less instantly turned around and started cursing at the media, seemingly blaming the journalists for the assassination attempt. I think there's something to that notion, given how much of the media's business model has been revolving generating as much outrage as possible and fanning the flame, but then framing itself like an independent force for peace. Like Jerry Springer asking "can't we just get along" after rubbing onion juice into the tissues he handed to his guests.
I don't really know what's going on, but again I figure we're dealing with some kind of strange social dynamic that goes beyond individual rationality. Just some group think where the integrity of the group is more important than the actual truth, or justice. I don't like Trump, I don't like Biden, but justice is justice, and truth is truth. But yeah, you're right, Trump might have not happened in the first place if organic reformhad not been suppressed. Bernie, Tulsi, or RFK for that matter. Maybe even Cortez.
Don't take this too seriously, I'm just jazzing around. I'm not trying to write a paper here :-)
Good morning! Well... It has probably always and at all times been the case that older people didn't understand the ideas of younger people and thought the world was crazy. No problem. In my opinion, people have always had the opportunity to orientate themselves according to fundamental values and these seem to me to have begun to falter. I find that worrying.
Hey! Makes me remember that Socrates quote about disobidient kids:
Overall I'm starting to appreciate the balance in things and even though change might be overall beneficial, maybe it should happen organically. And that's coming from a boderline pathological contrarian, who tends to be anti-establishment by natural sentiment. So it's not like I couldn't find things to complain about, but then there's that tendency to make things worse. On the other hand, you probably can't just do nothing either. Per defnition, that is. Like "doing" nothing itself seems oxymoronic. In that sense, circling back to the political stuff, I'm all for checks and balances. Like having an upper age limit for political offices makes sense. Having to pick between two 90 year olds doesn't.
In terms of lost values I'm missing personal integrity, but granted I'm a bit of a hypocrite myself. I suppose power was always something you shouldn't give to people who've been looking for it, but it seemingly has gotten worse. In my humble opinion the ends don't justify the means, for the most part, but to some life is just Game of Thrones I guess. I genuinely hate that machiavellian stuff.
Edit: Oh, by the way. Remember when I told you I was trying to write a novel? It's weird because as soon as I'm trying to write actual narrative I'm instantly blocked, but then when I'm writing stupid comments on the internet I effortlessly ramble for days. Ironically enough maybe even about narrative. Go figure!
TEAM 5
TEAM 5