Them Books is Dangerous

My mother, staunchly conservative and a lifelong Republican, taught me that the reason we support public education is that everyone benefits from having an educated population. Today's Republicans, after shutting down the libraries and banning factual education, will be very unhappy 15-20 years from now when there is no one capable of developing new technology, or even repairing old technology; when they can't get lifesaving medical treatments because there wasn't anyone qualified to go to medical school; when TV shows are unable to entertain them because no one can write well; when even people in the most menial jobs drive them crazy by not understanding how things work. ^{@mrswest.bsky.social}

 

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I wrote this five years ago, but in light of current events, it seems relevant again.

Maybe it's really time to to divide the United States into two different countries. We’ll call them Trumpistan and, um... America! People will have a grace period of a couple of years to move to whichever country they prefer before the new rules take effect.

Trumpistan will be located in the old Confederacy States. Trump will be Supreme Ruler for Life. Instead of a cabinet, he’ll have a Council of Oligarchs, who will manage the various departments. Because the departments won’t actually do much, the Oligarchs will have plenty of time for cosmetic surgery and yachting.

Of course, people will still be allowed to vote -- for any candidate they like from the country’s only party, the Trumpicans.

Those opting to move to Trumpistan will give up Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and other government programs relating to health and welfare. Naturally, people will be able to buy health insurance. It won’t cover contraception – or really, anything, because sooner or later everyone has a pre-existing condition. Most people will pay for medical care and drugs out of pocket.

There will be no public education. Those who can’t afford a fancy private school can choose between a church school (where the history class will teach that Noah took dinosaurs on the Ark), homeschooling (rare, because most couples will have at least two full time jobs in order to afford health care), or simple day care (which will consist mostly of chain link fences).

There will be little need for publicly-funded infrastructure projects, like roads and bridges, since few people will have the time or money to go anywhere. Most national parks will be converted to coal mines and oil wells. The others will become Royal Hunting Grounds where the Oligarchs enjoy canned hunts.

In the meantime, back in America, we'll continue to use the U.S. Constitution, with a few small amendments. Gerrymandering will be made illegal, and the electoral college will no longer exist. Health care will be Medicare for All. Congresspersons will receive a salary based on the average income of citizens, and upon retirement they'll get the same Social Security benefits as everyone else. One idea from the Trump days will finally be carried out – we'll build The Wall – along the border with Trumpistan. ^@realrkwest

 

Not a Serious Candidate

Pat Paulson (1927-1997) was an Emmy-winning comedian who satirically ran for President several times. His campaigns received light-hearted press coverage; the reporters knew he wasn't a serious candidate. Even so, he did get votes in some primary elections (both Democratic and Republican), beating some of the real but minor candidates. In 1996, he received 921 votes in the New Hampshire primary, coming in second to Bill Clinton (76,754 votes).

Everyone in the media knew that Paulsen's campaigns were performances, and he was not viewed as a serious candidate. Years later, when game show host donald trump announced his candidacy, I expected the media would give him the Pat Paulsen treatment. Instead, the networks promoted him as vigorously as they could, catapulting a New York real estate conman into national office. It was even more of a disaster than most people predicted, leading to the emergence of a strange, fascististic cult.

Those People Are Dangerous

In the 1920s and 30s, there was a special propaganda technique used in Germany to make people hate and fear Jews and other minorities. If a Jew committed a crime, the news headline would state, "Jew convicted of theft", or "Jew murders neighbor", or whatever it was. They would often include a very unflattering photo, intended to reinforce racist stereotypes. If questioned (which rarely happened), they could point out that it was a true story, the Jew really did do that crime. But they never published headlines like, "Lutheran man accused of rape", or "Blonde Aryan girl caught shoplifting". The goal was to use this kind of repetition to make people feel that Jews were a class of criminals, responsible for most bad things. It worked pretty well, along with other tactics, and few German gentiles complained much when their Jewish neighbors were rounded up and "deported".

We see something similar here. The news site that proclaims, "Illegal immigrant robs Quickie Mart", or "Transgender athlete beats up on girls" never tells us that "Natural-born citizen shoots 5 people" or "Biological female stabs classmate". They are building a narrative about how the Other is bad and dangerous, even though this isn't supported by statistics. ^@themrswest



Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash