[FRIAM] OFFLINE:Today's Sermon:: a minor awokening

[Eric Charles]

"Perhaps I should have said, early on, “Look, I’m sorry, I keep seeing you
as Uncle Remus.  I am sure, as I get to know you better, I will get over
it.  Please be patient with me, and please call me out whenever you feel
confined by it. ”



A Liberalism that does not free me is not worth the name."


It will probably not surprise you to know that I find this narration
baffling. You definitely *could* say that to him, at any time. There is
nothing "liberal" about feeling trapped to not discuss something like that.
If you felt trapped for a bit, not saying anything seems wise. However, at
some point, you just say it, or give up on the idea that you actually have
a problem with it. Personally, I'd stay away from an Uncle Remus reference,
but the whole point here is that the two of you are old, so it might make
sense in your world. At any rate, the worst case result will be that you
have been honest with him, and he never spoke to you again. Which is, IMHO,
a better outcome than your not being honest with him, and he never spoke to
you again, which seems to be where you are now. Sometimes, certainly not
always, but sometimes, when I make moves like that in a conversation, you
later express admiration and/or envy.

I think this relates to the larger question of what some people see in
Trump. They see him as constantly pointing out what they (his fans) see as
the "elephant in the room." Sure, he says a boat load of other things, and
lots of those things are not true, but those aren't the important things.
"Why do we want all these people from shithole countries coming here?" is a
great example of a perceived elephant. "There are good people on both
sides" is another, as is the recent dust-up about "anti-racist" workshops.
When Trump gets hammered for saying such things, they take away 1) See I
was right not to risk saying that myself, because my supposedly friendly,
supposedly open-minded neighbors would have attacked me just for saying it,
and maybe even tried to get me fired, because apparently they think my kids
should go hungry if I think something they don't like. 2) Thank God *someone
*had the guts to ask the question! 3) What kind of crazy country do these
libs want to turn us into, with all these elephants wandering all around
the room, and it's not even enough to not say anything, because now you
gotta be worried about getting fired if they think you might even have
looked at one? 4) If I could be me, but also have the guts to talk about
the elephants, I would be A Better Person. He talks about the elephants, so
he is A Better Person.

Did that comparison hold together? It felt like it did.




P.S. Add on top of that that a huge chunk of the "lies" are puffery, which
amounts to telling his supporters that it is ok to feel good about
themselves and good about their country. This started in earnest with the
claims about inauguration attendance and continues, for example, with any
suggestion that we might be doing anything half-decent with our Covid
response. When Trump gets hammered for saying such things, they take away
1) I guess the libs really do want us to feel bad about our country. 2)
They really think it would be horrible if I felt good about myself for even
a minute. 3) They are ok judging me when they know nothing about me.


<echarles at american.edu>


On Sat, Sep 5, 2020 at 11:19 PM Steve Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:

>
> My solution is to elect Biden and to use Trump as an example of the kind
> of person to never elect again.  But that's just me.
>
> Sounds like a partial lobotomy.   I'm game for this... but not sure it is
> more than "a good start", which of course is, in fact, a good start.
>
>
>
> ---
> Frank C. Wimberly
> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
> Santa Fe, NM 87505
>
> 505 670-9918
> Santa Fe, NM
>
> On Sat, Sep 5, 2020, 8:15 PM Steve Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> > Yes, you could say that government in general and especially lawmakers
>> > are our superego.  The best common word synonym for superego is
>> > conscience.  Since a lot of people have lacunae of their own superego
>> > we need laws and law enforcers.
>>
>> So right now we are in the midst of a collective id/ego/superego that is
>> experiencing a dissociative episode, both governmental and social?
>>
>> to the extent the analogy holds, what is an exit/recovery strategy?
>>
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