Beautifully written, Tessa, and very intriguing. I've been studying A Course in Miracles for a couple decades and it agrees with you that the quest for 'specialness' is the root of all dysfunction, preventing the recognition that we're One. I wonder, however, if Russia is entering a new era with the BRIICS-BRI cooperation and Putin's domestic policies of supporting local production and small businesses while telling the oligarchs they should "think about their legacy. While money and assets will lead their heirs to drink, a good name will be something they can be proud of."
Thank you Tereza!!!! Sadly, Russia, just like America, is not doing very well at all. And without a doubt, the leadership in either place could care less about the well-being of anyone except their own "friends and family." It's the way it has always been outside of the "special" designation...
You certainly have the first hand knowledge. But since the US sanctions seized the assets of Russian oligarchs held outside of Russia and they stopped accepting petrodollars or Euros for oil and gas, some things are not the way they've always been. The only hope that The Great Reset isn't working and they've miscalculated lies in Russia and Sergei Glazyev's economic plan. Otherwise, I don't believe there is any hope they won't succeed, at least in the short term. There are a couple of episodes I've done that examine Putin's St Petersburg address and whether it's a harbinger of something different than before:
Oh, I read Edward Slavsquat's latest post before I realized it was a different name you mentioned. I'll look for Edward's article on him next (unless that's a pseudonym for Riley). Meanwhile, I'll put in a little response to Edward on whether Putin is part of the GR:
Option One: Everything that's happening in the world, including the Maidan coup and Putin's 'special operation' in Ukraine has been orchestrated by the same people who brought us Covid. There will be no alternative to third-world debt by walking away and joining the BRIICS. We will only be exchanging US hegemony for WEF hegemony (and whoever's behind it). No country will be able to demonstrate what an alternative medical or economic or social system could do because TINA--there is no... That's entirely a possibility. We could definitely be all fucked.
Option Two: the oligarchs are like rats who don't always do what's best for the group but sometimes get greedy for themselves. Biden's Ukraine grab, orchestrated by the neo-cons, didn't count on Putin leaving gold in overseas banks like rat-bait, so he could renounce the petrodollar and influence of Russian oligarchs. The BRIICS are a viable alternative for producer nations yearning to breathe free of their dollarized debt. We in the US/NATOstan are fucked but so is, maybe, the IMF on which the WEF depends. It's a possibility that might as well be considered, since it's a little shred of hope and we have no power anyway.
Here are the bits of clues that maybe this is the case. The GR agenda is dispossession of homeownership and small businesses, and depopulation through lowering the birth rate and raising the death rate. Part of Putin's speech was talking about the 13% drop in births and how we need to support families, with actual money committed to that. He talked about policies that will support small businesses. And there were many other things that I'd certainly welcome if any US politician talked about them. I don't credit these to Putin because they're very policy-dense. I think they're from Sergei Glazyev. But Putin is listening to him. Anyway, that may be responding to the wrong blogger but fwiw.
Putin had generals upset with his passive plan and his stubborn insistence on it as they care about Russian lives in the military.
Another weird thing... Russia attacked the Ukrainian key power grid last year but at the time, there was no chaos in Ukraine reported in the media or even social media of having no power...?
Yes the power grid attack was right after Ukraine blew up the bridge to Crimea. They tried to blame it on someone else but it was easy to follow the trail of breadcrumbs. Plus it didn't work the way they wanted. By attacking Crimea, they made it clear they were escalating to Russian territory, so Russia took out the power grid.
Interesting, Socrates. I watched one at random on Forgiveness, since I give my interpretation in my YT on Forgiving Hitler. But, in addition to not being on 305 (as a commenter also noted) he had a very different reading of the Course. He says it means you should NOT let other people off the hook but should examine the LIES in our own DNA. I don't know how DNA squares with the teaching that we're not separate minds in separate bodies, but One Mind dreaming of separate bodies.
I used to attend The Jesus Seminars, an int'l conference of Bible scholars who presented research and voted on whether certain things were true or false. One presentation that made an impression on me showed that even the pre-written gospels were in Greek, not Aramaic. They determined this by many clues, including the parables of Jesus that have 'tropes' or puns that only work in Greek. Other contradictions show that the character called Jesus (and yes, I'm familiar with the translation to Y'shua) was fictional and, as my research confirms, invented by Josephus, the adopted son of God/Caesar, to whitewash his shameful betrayal of the Judeans back into slavery after their successful revolt against Rome. No written historical record exists of Jesus other than Josephus and no written gospel exists before the 'fall' of Jerusalem, reconquered by Titus with Josephus' help.
One of the Gnostic Gospels that was written in Aramaic and does have parallels with ACIM is the Gospel of Philip. It answers questions about resurrection with phrases like "How can what was never born ever die?"--which is very Course. Thanks for giving me all these juicy things to respond to, that I haven't had a chance to talk about for years!
In addition to Reversing the Reset, here's the description and link to a YT that gives my understanding of the Course: Are YOU Ready to Save the World? Looks at undoing empire-thinking as a spiritual practice. A Course in Miracles says that God only ever asks one question, "Are you ready yet to help me save the world?" I look at why our answer is "not yet" because of our attachment to our own superiority. Our message to one another should be "You are magnificent" and "Here's why I think you're mistaken," using facts, logic and consistency. I connect the comments of three magnificent viewers and convey the views of four magnificent writers on Ukraine—Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Caitlin Johnstone and Andrew Bacevich. I end with hearing from the horse's mouth, Putin: https://youtu.be/bN3DVJ8Uk04
Lovely essay - thank you Tessa! As someone with an eastern bloc background, I recognize both sides of that coin, and try to walk that hard-to-find limen… While either “exceptionalism” may well start with a politician hiding in a bush & scamming, I’m quite sure it will end with said politicians screaming.. ;)
I'm new to your Substack. You are truly an incredible writer, really enjoyed this post. In there, you said that Russia is currently being Americanized. Would you please write more on this current and ongoing Americanization of Russia (unless you already have, I'm gonna go read more of your posts now, haven't seen anything else by you). Very concerned that Russia will adopt the worst of American culture while basically ignoring the best of it and will as a result become even more dysfunctional. What are all the ways Russia is being Americanized and do you think this is ersatz/"surface level" Americanization similar to the Hellenization that the Middle Eastern cultures experienced when Ancient Rome conquered them but then the Hellenization began to fade away afterwards when Rome's culture deteriorated further and they stopped caring about trying to push any cultural norms on others or do you think that this is a legit long-term change of values and beliefs at the core of the Russian spirit and it won't go away? Thank you very so much in advance :))
Thank you, Zepiroth!! You are very kind! And thank you for the idea! I mean mostly the victorious march of the corporate office culture, the hamster wheel that Russians have been kind of rejecting but then embraced alongside the "western freedom" etc. It's the feeling... a replacement of the moody discontent with "how are you? fine, thanks" That kind of thing, but of course, the replacement is not total, and it's all nuanced, etc...
Aah thank you so much for your reply!! That's somewhat reassuring since it seems like a superficial and maybe temporary change possibly due to material conditions. I wonder if remote work would reverse some of this corporate office stuff. I just watched one of your interviews about the parallels between Lenin's Great Reset and Schwab's Great Reset and your talk on Russia clarified some of this. I look forward to reading more of your work! :)
Aug 27, 2022·edited Aug 27, 2022Liked by Tessa Lena
You share many important insights here... including addressing the elephant I can't unsee who's taken up residence in our human living room:
'Any speculation about what caused the initial shift from the original “old normal” to the very experimental phase of history we are in right now (weird but true) is a speculation. It is very hard to determine. Maybe it was boredom, the urge to go for an adventure and “try something different” without realizing that the uneventful feeling of having all bases covered was not a bad thing, and should be appreciated. Maybe it was corruption, a feature of the mind that human beings are prone to, especially when out of balance. Or perhaps it’s just that the human species collectively entered our “teenage years,” and we are learning about the cost of being delusional the hard way.' (Plus the novel hypothesis of being prey to parasites!)
Viva la speculation! It's sorely needed on this matter of our true nature, where we went wrong, and how to recover our lost natural humanity. Your writing is well aimed at that heart. <3
Thank you, Nowick! Yes, a big mystery, and probably an important learning experience. I tend to thing that existentially, everything evens out. But even so, it is in our very best interest to get our $hit together because in the concrete, things are looking kind of ridiculous, and it is our job to work toward being in a good and dignified place!!
You hold that paradoxical balance so well, between acceptance and resistance, both necessary, A quantum skill both esoteric and practical!
In response to WWI Gurdieff said, "Know Thyself." Krishna said, "Do the right thing in battle, regardless." I guess you could say "Love thine enemy" is also paradoxical, since somebody's still "enemy"--for good reason, with murderous intent.
I’ve always likened the United States (through my immigrant eyes) as the spawn child of Willy Loman and Superman: afraid and embarrassed to be anything else but a-OK and with an utterly daft sense of saviour complex. People always asking you “hi, how are you?” But not really asking you, not really wanting to know. And how are you supposed to respond anyway? It’s ok to admit you’re not ok sometimes. It’s ok not to fake through it. I still love this big oaf of a country. Or rather, I love its people - kind, easygoing, with a great sense of humour. And let me tell you, if it wasn’t for the USA, the world would have already succumbed to 4IR. Thanks for holding the line, America. Thanks for being so effen stubborn with so many saying no to the damn jabs. And for having so many guns in the hands of private citizens. I can’t ever pull a trigger to hurt a human but just the thought of the government not being the only one with weapons let’s me rest easy.
Upon reflection I couldn’t help but realize it isn’t the “special” about a person but the “specialty “ the use of their God given gifts and every single time. Lol
As an outsider to both, if I may opine it is this:
Russians and americans are both obsessed with success if it is something which can be rubbed in the face of neighbours, detractors, opponents and competitors - both in braggartly ostentatious ways as well as in friendly.
But americans put this above survival, whereas russians do not. American exceptionalism takes the position the US has occupied an improved upon since the end of WW1 as a natural state. Russians do not. The russian empire is old. It has waxed and waned throughout history. It has been threatened by everyone from us swedes to the poles to the Teutonic Order to mongols and tartars and kazaks and itself.
It is in the bones of every russian I think, a knowledge that was has risen will sink, and what has sunk may rise again.
Whereas americans act as if their position is a force of nature, as if their nation exists as a consequence of their holy scripture, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and not through ruthless unsentimental realpolitik, war and genocide. Add to that how white americans are blind to the sad fact that race and culture/ethnicity is not just exotic food, folkdances and food, and a hat you can swap as you can any commodity, whereas russians knows full well that one people must rule one land - two people can no more rule together than to men can marry the same woman at the same time.
It is to be hoped for those of us stuck in the middle with you, that Russia remembers all the other times her despot of a ruler has led her people to the brink of Doom. It is eequally to be hoped for, that the US matures and again realises that deeds indeed must suit words and that words does not change the nature of deeds. History has no favourites, and all empires fall.
Sometimes, their people survive. Sometimes they become a mixed mongrel horde until a new ehtnicity emerges from the mix of races. And sometimes the most violent, aggressive and prolific of the peoples of the collapsed empire exterminate or subjugate the others.
Eventually, all monuments are sand. This, all european peoples know in their bones. The americans have yet to learn this bitter lesson in person.
This is terrific, Tessa. You say, "It’s that mindset, that algorithmic scarcity-based social arrangement that human beings decided to collectively engage with a some thousands of years ago, after millions of years of trusting their relationship with nature and with the spirits and feeling no need for anxious hoarding." What caused this? The transition from egalitarian, trusting humans to isolated, paranoid, deeply sick egos came about by the need to protect agriculture's new riches via armies and priesthood. Modern version -- the gambit of "leaders" force-feeding nationalism (a k a patriotism) to the "peasants" until they willingly participate in their own destruction via phony wars. Allow me to quote from my Let's Burn the Flags of All Nations: "Nationalism is a dead-end/The nation-state is a criminal enterprise/Patriotism is a trick." Modern nation-states are only four centuries old yet through their "leaders," always in ceaseless competition with one another, we have been brought close to our annihilation. And here's an up to the minute postscript: we must not fall for the idea, common among those resisting Klaus Schwab's Great Reset, that these nefarious semi-humans wish the end of the nation-state. No way. They simply are resetting it to Nation-State 2.0. Because the same greedy, capitalist consciousness planning human-flavored robots has been running nation-states since their inception.
Where do you get the idea that archaic cultures weren’t riven with conflict? Complete nonsense. And none more warlike than indigenous Americans. Please feel free to cite examples of these cultures where dominance patterns and sacrificial rituals to mitigate intraspecific strife were absent. We are pussy cats compared with Cheyenne, Sioux, or any other grouping on any continent at any time. The only constant in any culture is conflict and the more or less successful systems of rites and prohibitions to contain conflict and prevent outright bloodshed.
The notion that ‘elites’ are peculiarly evil while we their victims are *good* doesn’t bear scrutiny. Everyone is corrupted by power. The issue today isn’t that people in power have suddenly become malign but that institutional mechanisms for keeping power in check have disintegrated, or been corrupted which boils down to the same thing.
Otherwise I couldn’t agree more with your analysis of “digital slavery” only that it’s mistaken to attribute it to a malign cabal. If you gave the average man a billion pounds he’d soon turn into a power crazed monster too especially when he realises how simple it is too control the channels of mass communication and exert influence in the service of political power by the same mass marketing techniques that sell consumer items.
The original meaning of American exceptionalism, unfortnately, has been lost. It was always about an idea, not something organic in the people. It couldn't be in our blood, beause we were a mixture from the beginning. As Alan Bloom says in "The Closing of the Amercian Mind", you can become an American in a day, and that has generally not been true of any other nation.
The idea of America is that people are free by their very nature, and no one has an inherent right to rule over others. Government is merely our shared project to protect those rights that we have by nature, and which the government in no way grants but only protects.
Too few understand this now. Events of the last two and a half years have served to make it more evident by contrast. It's a sad reality that we often don't even know that we have something valuable until we lose it. Or until we're in danger of losing it.
If we lose this country, the idea of America, there is no other country to fall back on, no external entity we can rely on to save us and restore our heritage. I can only imagine how in some future age the idea of freedom could be recovered. We must not lose it in this one.
American exceptionalism was a basket full of myths that Americans believed about themselves. Surely after the last two years, that fantasy has been put to rest?
Canadian exceptionalism never was... and we have suffered less as a result. Having a chip on your shoulder is a horrible curse for a nation.
I think all versions of exceptionalism are a basket full of myths. What is true is that every "clan" has a personality and perhaps a special purpose, just like people. But it is not in the manner of being the only ones representing God (what nonsense) or the only ones representing science (again, what nonsense). The latter ideas usually start in a top-down manner as a political trick, and then get internalized. Which is to say, all exceptonaism is unhelpful but we have to start where we are, which is a big mess, and lovingly pedal toward clarity. Pointing fingers at each other doesn't help, either.
During my life, the US was the sole example of exceptionalism. The only ones playing the role of world policeman, and the latest nation to behave like an empire. I point my finger at them, and now that their time is over, I will point my finger at triumphalists like Pepe Escobar, who are crowing about a Eurasian century.
The projection of power is no exception, it's the rule. Hence the saying: new boss same as the old boss.
But we are not in power, and not bosses. So what is exceptionalism to us?
We can be patriotic and proud, yet draw the line at our nation's borders. Geopolitics is not a game ordinary people should play - or allow anyone to play. We fail in our duty as citizens when we allow our "representatives" to run rampant.
"it’s the unbalanced implementation of the gift that makes the world so messy, not the gift itself." love that. maria montessori would agree
Thank you!!! I think a lot of crappy things in the world come from the mismanagement of very beautiful gifts.
Beautifully written, Tessa, and very intriguing. I've been studying A Course in Miracles for a couple decades and it agrees with you that the quest for 'specialness' is the root of all dysfunction, preventing the recognition that we're One. I wonder, however, if Russia is entering a new era with the BRIICS-BRI cooperation and Putin's domestic policies of supporting local production and small businesses while telling the oligarchs they should "think about their legacy. While money and assets will lead their heirs to drink, a good name will be something they can be proud of."
Thank you Tereza!!!! Sadly, Russia, just like America, is not doing very well at all. And without a doubt, the leadership in either place could care less about the well-being of anyone except their own "friends and family." It's the way it has always been outside of the "special" designation...
You certainly have the first hand knowledge. But since the US sanctions seized the assets of Russian oligarchs held outside of Russia and they stopped accepting petrodollars or Euros for oil and gas, some things are not the way they've always been. The only hope that The Great Reset isn't working and they've miscalculated lies in Russia and Sergei Glazyev's economic plan. Otherwise, I don't believe there is any hope they won't succeed, at least in the short term. There are a couple of episodes I've done that examine Putin's St Petersburg address and whether it's a harbinger of something different than before:
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/russia-a-wrench-in-the-reset-gears
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/ukraine-the-hegemons-last-stand
The writer with whom I agree on what's going on in Russia right now is Riley Waggaman. Are you familiar with his work?
https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/
Oh, I read Edward Slavsquat's latest post before I realized it was a different name you mentioned. I'll look for Edward's article on him next (unless that's a pseudonym for Riley). Meanwhile, I'll put in a little response to Edward on whether Putin is part of the GR:
Option One: Everything that's happening in the world, including the Maidan coup and Putin's 'special operation' in Ukraine has been orchestrated by the same people who brought us Covid. There will be no alternative to third-world debt by walking away and joining the BRIICS. We will only be exchanging US hegemony for WEF hegemony (and whoever's behind it). No country will be able to demonstrate what an alternative medical or economic or social system could do because TINA--there is no... That's entirely a possibility. We could definitely be all fucked.
Option Two: the oligarchs are like rats who don't always do what's best for the group but sometimes get greedy for themselves. Biden's Ukraine grab, orchestrated by the neo-cons, didn't count on Putin leaving gold in overseas banks like rat-bait, so he could renounce the petrodollar and influence of Russian oligarchs. The BRIICS are a viable alternative for producer nations yearning to breathe free of their dollarized debt. We in the US/NATOstan are fucked but so is, maybe, the IMF on which the WEF depends. It's a possibility that might as well be considered, since it's a little shred of hope and we have no power anyway.
Here are the bits of clues that maybe this is the case. The GR agenda is dispossession of homeownership and small businesses, and depopulation through lowering the birth rate and raising the death rate. Part of Putin's speech was talking about the 13% drop in births and how we need to support families, with actual money committed to that. He talked about policies that will support small businesses. And there were many other things that I'd certainly welcome if any US politician talked about them. I don't credit these to Putin because they're very policy-dense. I think they're from Sergei Glazyev. But Putin is listening to him. Anyway, that may be responding to the wrong blogger but fwiw.
Good points!
My gut tells me that it's for show.
The war has been purposely dragged out.
Putin had generals upset with his passive plan and his stubborn insistence on it as they care about Russian lives in the military.
Another weird thing... Russia attacked the Ukrainian key power grid last year but at the time, there was no chaos in Ukraine reported in the media or even social media of having no power...?
Yes the power grid attack was right after Ukraine blew up the bridge to Crimea. They tried to blame it on someone else but it was easy to follow the trail of breadcrumbs. Plus it didn't work the way they wanted. By attacking Crimea, they made it clear they were escalating to Russian territory, so Russia took out the power grid.
No but it sounds like I should be. Can you give a reference?
Interesting, Socrates. I watched one at random on Forgiveness, since I give my interpretation in my YT on Forgiving Hitler. But, in addition to not being on 305 (as a commenter also noted) he had a very different reading of the Course. He says it means you should NOT let other people off the hook but should examine the LIES in our own DNA. I don't know how DNA squares with the teaching that we're not separate minds in separate bodies, but One Mind dreaming of separate bodies.
I used to attend The Jesus Seminars, an int'l conference of Bible scholars who presented research and voted on whether certain things were true or false. One presentation that made an impression on me showed that even the pre-written gospels were in Greek, not Aramaic. They determined this by many clues, including the parables of Jesus that have 'tropes' or puns that only work in Greek. Other contradictions show that the character called Jesus (and yes, I'm familiar with the translation to Y'shua) was fictional and, as my research confirms, invented by Josephus, the adopted son of God/Caesar, to whitewash his shameful betrayal of the Judeans back into slavery after their successful revolt against Rome. No written historical record exists of Jesus other than Josephus and no written gospel exists before the 'fall' of Jerusalem, reconquered by Titus with Josephus' help.
One of the Gnostic Gospels that was written in Aramaic and does have parallels with ACIM is the Gospel of Philip. It answers questions about resurrection with phrases like "How can what was never born ever die?"--which is very Course. Thanks for giving me all these juicy things to respond to, that I haven't had a chance to talk about for years!
In addition to Reversing the Reset, here's the description and link to a YT that gives my understanding of the Course: Are YOU Ready to Save the World? Looks at undoing empire-thinking as a spiritual practice. A Course in Miracles says that God only ever asks one question, "Are you ready yet to help me save the world?" I look at why our answer is "not yet" because of our attachment to our own superiority. Our message to one another should be "You are magnificent" and "Here's why I think you're mistaken," using facts, logic and consistency. I connect the comments of three magnificent viewers and convey the views of four magnificent writers on Ukraine—Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Caitlin Johnstone and Andrew Bacevich. I end with hearing from the horse's mouth, Putin: https://youtu.be/bN3DVJ8Uk04
Lovely essay - thank you Tessa! As someone with an eastern bloc background, I recognize both sides of that coin, and try to walk that hard-to-find limen… While either “exceptionalism” may well start with a politician hiding in a bush & scamming, I’m quite sure it will end with said politicians screaming.. ;)
Thank you Riff!!! And yes, I know the feeling of recognizing both sides of that coin!!
I'm new to your Substack. You are truly an incredible writer, really enjoyed this post. In there, you said that Russia is currently being Americanized. Would you please write more on this current and ongoing Americanization of Russia (unless you already have, I'm gonna go read more of your posts now, haven't seen anything else by you). Very concerned that Russia will adopt the worst of American culture while basically ignoring the best of it and will as a result become even more dysfunctional. What are all the ways Russia is being Americanized and do you think this is ersatz/"surface level" Americanization similar to the Hellenization that the Middle Eastern cultures experienced when Ancient Rome conquered them but then the Hellenization began to fade away afterwards when Rome's culture deteriorated further and they stopped caring about trying to push any cultural norms on others or do you think that this is a legit long-term change of values and beliefs at the core of the Russian spirit and it won't go away? Thank you very so much in advance :))
Thank you, Zepiroth!! You are very kind! And thank you for the idea! I mean mostly the victorious march of the corporate office culture, the hamster wheel that Russians have been kind of rejecting but then embraced alongside the "western freedom" etc. It's the feeling... a replacement of the moody discontent with "how are you? fine, thanks" That kind of thing, but of course, the replacement is not total, and it's all nuanced, etc...
Aah thank you so much for your reply!! That's somewhat reassuring since it seems like a superficial and maybe temporary change possibly due to material conditions. I wonder if remote work would reverse some of this corporate office stuff. I just watched one of your interviews about the parallels between Lenin's Great Reset and Schwab's Great Reset and your talk on Russia clarified some of this. I look forward to reading more of your work! :)
You share many important insights here... including addressing the elephant I can't unsee who's taken up residence in our human living room:
'Any speculation about what caused the initial shift from the original “old normal” to the very experimental phase of history we are in right now (weird but true) is a speculation. It is very hard to determine. Maybe it was boredom, the urge to go for an adventure and “try something different” without realizing that the uneventful feeling of having all bases covered was not a bad thing, and should be appreciated. Maybe it was corruption, a feature of the mind that human beings are prone to, especially when out of balance. Or perhaps it’s just that the human species collectively entered our “teenage years,” and we are learning about the cost of being delusional the hard way.' (Plus the novel hypothesis of being prey to parasites!)
Viva la speculation! It's sorely needed on this matter of our true nature, where we went wrong, and how to recover our lost natural humanity. Your writing is well aimed at that heart. <3
Thank you, Nowick! Yes, a big mystery, and probably an important learning experience. I tend to thing that existentially, everything evens out. But even so, it is in our very best interest to get our $hit together because in the concrete, things are looking kind of ridiculous, and it is our job to work toward being in a good and dignified place!!
You hold that paradoxical balance so well, between acceptance and resistance, both necessary, A quantum skill both esoteric and practical!
In response to WWI Gurdieff said, "Know Thyself." Krishna said, "Do the right thing in battle, regardless." I guess you could say "Love thine enemy" is also paradoxical, since somebody's still "enemy"--for good reason, with murderous intent.
BTW I share your quote on our mysterious point of human departure in today's post, https://nowick.substack.com/p/quantum-quips
Cheers and keep that bright heart shining.
Thank you once again! :)
What a lovely lot of people are here!
More philosophy hours please! :)
I’ve always likened the United States (through my immigrant eyes) as the spawn child of Willy Loman and Superman: afraid and embarrassed to be anything else but a-OK and with an utterly daft sense of saviour complex. People always asking you “hi, how are you?” But not really asking you, not really wanting to know. And how are you supposed to respond anyway? It’s ok to admit you’re not ok sometimes. It’s ok not to fake through it. I still love this big oaf of a country. Or rather, I love its people - kind, easygoing, with a great sense of humour. And let me tell you, if it wasn’t for the USA, the world would have already succumbed to 4IR. Thanks for holding the line, America. Thanks for being so effen stubborn with so many saying no to the damn jabs. And for having so many guns in the hands of private citizens. I can’t ever pull a trigger to hurt a human but just the thought of the government not being the only one with weapons let’s me rest easy.
Amen!! I love this land and the American people, too!
This is brilliant, true and funny.
Thank you!!!
Good stuff, 1/2 thru all ready poof thank you-
Upon reflection I couldn’t help but realize it isn’t the “special” about a person but the “specialty “ the use of their God given gifts and every single time. Lol
As an outsider to both, if I may opine it is this:
Russians and americans are both obsessed with success if it is something which can be rubbed in the face of neighbours, detractors, opponents and competitors - both in braggartly ostentatious ways as well as in friendly.
But americans put this above survival, whereas russians do not. American exceptionalism takes the position the US has occupied an improved upon since the end of WW1 as a natural state. Russians do not. The russian empire is old. It has waxed and waned throughout history. It has been threatened by everyone from us swedes to the poles to the Teutonic Order to mongols and tartars and kazaks and itself.
It is in the bones of every russian I think, a knowledge that was has risen will sink, and what has sunk may rise again.
Whereas americans act as if their position is a force of nature, as if their nation exists as a consequence of their holy scripture, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and not through ruthless unsentimental realpolitik, war and genocide. Add to that how white americans are blind to the sad fact that race and culture/ethnicity is not just exotic food, folkdances and food, and a hat you can swap as you can any commodity, whereas russians knows full well that one people must rule one land - two people can no more rule together than to men can marry the same woman at the same time.
It is to be hoped for those of us stuck in the middle with you, that Russia remembers all the other times her despot of a ruler has led her people to the brink of Doom. It is eequally to be hoped for, that the US matures and again realises that deeds indeed must suit words and that words does not change the nature of deeds. History has no favourites, and all empires fall.
Sometimes, their people survive. Sometimes they become a mixed mongrel horde until a new ehtnicity emerges from the mix of races. And sometimes the most violent, aggressive and prolific of the peoples of the collapsed empire exterminate or subjugate the others.
Eventually, all monuments are sand. This, all european peoples know in their bones. The americans have yet to learn this bitter lesson in person.
My girlfriend and I totally agree.
I guess it's us in the middle that will help conjoin the two sides of humanity.
This is terrific, Tessa. You say, "It’s that mindset, that algorithmic scarcity-based social arrangement that human beings decided to collectively engage with a some thousands of years ago, after millions of years of trusting their relationship with nature and with the spirits and feeling no need for anxious hoarding." What caused this? The transition from egalitarian, trusting humans to isolated, paranoid, deeply sick egos came about by the need to protect agriculture's new riches via armies and priesthood. Modern version -- the gambit of "leaders" force-feeding nationalism (a k a patriotism) to the "peasants" until they willingly participate in their own destruction via phony wars. Allow me to quote from my Let's Burn the Flags of All Nations: "Nationalism is a dead-end/The nation-state is a criminal enterprise/Patriotism is a trick." Modern nation-states are only four centuries old yet through their "leaders," always in ceaseless competition with one another, we have been brought close to our annihilation. And here's an up to the minute postscript: we must not fall for the idea, common among those resisting Klaus Schwab's Great Reset, that these nefarious semi-humans wish the end of the nation-state. No way. They simply are resetting it to Nation-State 2.0. Because the same greedy, capitalist consciousness planning human-flavored robots has been running nation-states since their inception.
I know people have a weird globalist vibe with this song but actually, I think Lennon was describing a world of communication leading to anarchy.
"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one."
Where do you get the idea that archaic cultures weren’t riven with conflict? Complete nonsense. And none more warlike than indigenous Americans. Please feel free to cite examples of these cultures where dominance patterns and sacrificial rituals to mitigate intraspecific strife were absent. We are pussy cats compared with Cheyenne, Sioux, or any other grouping on any continent at any time. The only constant in any culture is conflict and the more or less successful systems of rites and prohibitions to contain conflict and prevent outright bloodshed.
The notion that ‘elites’ are peculiarly evil while we their victims are *good* doesn’t bear scrutiny. Everyone is corrupted by power. The issue today isn’t that people in power have suddenly become malign but that institutional mechanisms for keeping power in check have disintegrated, or been corrupted which boils down to the same thing.
Otherwise I couldn’t agree more with your analysis of “digital slavery” only that it’s mistaken to attribute it to a malign cabal. If you gave the average man a billion pounds he’d soon turn into a power crazed monster too especially when he realises how simple it is too control the channels of mass communication and exert influence in the service of political power by the same mass marketing techniques that sell consumer items.
The original meaning of American exceptionalism, unfortnately, has been lost. It was always about an idea, not something organic in the people. It couldn't be in our blood, beause we were a mixture from the beginning. As Alan Bloom says in "The Closing of the Amercian Mind", you can become an American in a day, and that has generally not been true of any other nation.
The idea of America is that people are free by their very nature, and no one has an inherent right to rule over others. Government is merely our shared project to protect those rights that we have by nature, and which the government in no way grants but only protects.
Too few understand this now. Events of the last two and a half years have served to make it more evident by contrast. It's a sad reality that we often don't even know that we have something valuable until we lose it. Or until we're in danger of losing it.
If we lose this country, the idea of America, there is no other country to fall back on, no external entity we can rely on to save us and restore our heritage. I can only imagine how in some future age the idea of freedom could be recovered. We must not lose it in this one.
American exceptionalism was a basket full of myths that Americans believed about themselves. Surely after the last two years, that fantasy has been put to rest?
Canadian exceptionalism never was... and we have suffered less as a result. Having a chip on your shoulder is a horrible curse for a nation.
I think all versions of exceptionalism are a basket full of myths. What is true is that every "clan" has a personality and perhaps a special purpose, just like people. But it is not in the manner of being the only ones representing God (what nonsense) or the only ones representing science (again, what nonsense). The latter ideas usually start in a top-down manner as a political trick, and then get internalized. Which is to say, all exceptonaism is unhelpful but we have to start where we are, which is a big mess, and lovingly pedal toward clarity. Pointing fingers at each other doesn't help, either.
During my life, the US was the sole example of exceptionalism. The only ones playing the role of world policeman, and the latest nation to behave like an empire. I point my finger at them, and now that their time is over, I will point my finger at triumphalists like Pepe Escobar, who are crowing about a Eurasian century.
The projection of power is no exception, it's the rule. Hence the saying: new boss same as the old boss.
But we are not in power, and not bosses. So what is exceptionalism to us?
We can be patriotic and proud, yet draw the line at our nation's borders. Geopolitics is not a game ordinary people should play - or allow anyone to play. We fail in our duty as citizens when we allow our "representatives" to run rampant.