Something occurred to me this morning...

[PCIntern]

Suppose you were in a position of power, and were a greedy, narcissistic, self involved, self protective, rich, influential, manipulative, passive aggressive, asshole and you were Republican. (But I do repeat myself). And suppose you knew for the sake of argument that the earth had say 600 days left before a giant asteroid struck it and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it. I would posit that one such as someone described above would become an utter and complete denier, feel that one had nothing to lose by lying in extremis, feel complete insensitivity and uncaring for those affected by say, a viral epidemic, lie at every single opportunity and become incredibly hedonistic and never ever back down in any discussion about anything at all whatsoever, because there was essentially no future for mankind.

I presume that we are not going to be hit by said asteroid, however all these things above apparently apply. So the Republican call for aid for the mentally ill really once again applies to them as we know that every Republican accusation is in fact a confession. This is a mass insanity which is occurring before our eyes and has infected at least 77 million people. It is the real life Invasion of the Body Snatchers crossed with World War Z and directed by Stanley Kramer (On the Beach, 1959). Beginning Thursday, we enter the second act of what may be the final Shakespearean tragedy, the working title of which is: The Death of America. We are living through perilous times…

[Ocelot II]

1. That's pretty much the premise of "Don't Look Up."

[PCIntern]

3. Yea

But there is no asteroid, so what is the motivation for these individuals to be so persistently undemocratic an inappropriate? That is the question I’m asking…

[Ocelot II]

6. Untrammeled assholery. They do it because they can.

[harumph]

9. PCIntern, they know at some level, it's a racket

and they're in on it. I mean the whole thing. In my family are
medical professionals, attorneys, engineers etc. AND an
independent "wealth manager" for high net worth
individuals; himself a wealthy person. There is a world of difference in the outlook (might even
call it a philosophy) of the family members with the professional
degrees and this guy. Many of the wealthy assholes like this guy essentially see the American Experiment as it's
understood by progressives as unworkable and failed. They see themselves
(no matter if they were born into considerable wealth) as being part of a natural aristocracy
whose duty it is to rule. They view themselves as more intelligent than
even doctors and engineers. They don't mind it's (tax system, justice system, economy) a racket because they've
designed it to be so. Money going to social services is a waste, as are
functions of the government that might be profitable
if privatized. I've met quite a few of these assholes. Arrogant, entitled and
not in any way understanding or respectful of the pain of others because their
money does an excellent job of insulating them from the unpleasantries of life.
They lie, cheat, steal and it's OK - because they're "naturally superior" to the
pedestrian class and the professional class are here to serve them. I've often commented that
our situation with the Christian Nationalists is reminiscent of Iran before the fall of the Shah.
You know that most of the Iranian professional classes are not particularly religious and similarly,
the educated classes are dominated by theocrats that have as an army a population of religious country
folk who are rewarded by an elaborate patronage system. Of course the rich in Iran aren't particularly
religious and have their own resorts where they are free to frolic sans headscarves. Getting the picture?

[PCIntern]

11. Understood and agreed

[Joinfortmill]

24. Yeah, self serving assholes.

[sop]

2. "The Walking Dead" wasn't merely escapist fantasy, it was a metaphor for our times.

[CrackityJones75]

4. So you are saying that the hearings won't do anything?

Is that what you are saying?

[PCIntern]

10. No. I didn't say that...

Look, if you want to start an argument over nothing That’s fine with me but I won’t engage. This country has been moving in a very bad direction for a long time, and I’ve heard all about hearings doing this and doing that and I will await the results of these hearings.

[Chin music]

5. Global Warming is the comet. Don't look up.

I think there's something to your ideas.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. The trend is a trend until its not

Rule of law needs to make more noise than the other side, and yes there will be threats and probably some civil strife. Which will only make matters worse for the fascist wing. They have no hand to play other than some form of whining. Whining is not a winning hand, and J6 is not a court of law. That's DOJ's job. It's time for consequences.

[kimbutgar]

8. I'm also thinking the republicans are those aliens in They Live

[Stuart G]

12. The Republicans know exactly what they are doing. Like Trump, they only care about themselves.

...It doesn't matter that it kills lots of people. They save their own asses, then they are gone...

Trump is their true leader.........A PERSON WHO ONLY CARES ABOUT HIMSELF............

.......................THAT SAYS IT ALL...NO MORE!!

[onethatcares]

14. I think we could include

the Mercers, Murdochs, Kochs, DeVos's, Musks, Zuckerbergs, and a slew of other names that would take too long to type out.

These assholes actually think they are better than the rest of us because they have "Money".

[erronis]

19. Good list. Throw in some foreign leaders and oligarchs too.

I think many of them believe that they could outlive a global catastrophe by riding around in big boats in a boiling sea....

[H2O Man]

13. Recommended.

All of organic life on earth either grows or decays. This includes things from ant hills to empires. We are witnessing the decay of a large section of the USA. As a gardener, I use compost to grow new life.

[CTyankee]

15. I feel the same way about the art I write about. There are few constants in life. I admire your

work and appreciate that you do what you do. It enriches us all, every little bit. And as I grow older I wonder what kind of impact, if any, I will have left on this earth. I am mindful of my grandchildren two of whom are now college graduates and working.

I just finished a video entitled "The Beauty Project," which is a series of images of art that is beautiful. I think of it as being reified once again by my small effort, seen by a mere handful of people. It perpetuates beauty in the world. I thought of showing it here on DU but stopped because of copywrite concerns. So I do it privately.

[Joinfortmill]

23. I like that

[usonian]

16. People believe stories more than reality before them.

There is a lot thread of apocalyptic thought among the RW.
So, nothing matters.
Kurt Spellmeyer(1) calls it "world despising" and all the red hats have their sadistic crimes washed away (or so they think)

That said, I prefer to think of the current situation as TIME TRAVEL.
Twilight Zone?

We are returned to 1938 Germany with an opportunity to REVERSE HISTORY in a way.
This fascist crap CAN BE STOPPED.

It repeats through history. The question is whether just people stand up and stop it before it reaches epic proportions.

If I have a "story" to believe, I choose a modified form of Pascal's Wager:
I gamble that somehow, somewhere, what we do to others is done to us.
And I base my actions on that.


__________
(1) Buddha at the Apocalpse: Awakening from a culture of destruction.

[erronis]

20. "We are returned to 1938 Germany with an opportunity to REVERSE HISTORY" - wish it were true

but I also think we may be doomed to repeat. Just like I'd still be a stupid teenager if I went back to those days.

[llashram]

17. BAM!!!

"would lie and deny" till the asteroid was in their face and then they would call on their God, who would tell them, "I never knew you"...

[Hortensis]

18. Yes. I think most I socialized with would turn to religion, and I'd start spouting

pieties myself to avoid them turning on me, or just being exiled. And likely make myself believe them too.

All an extremely common and powerful form of denial, and we are seeing it happen. I lost count long ago of the conservatives who blandly (albeit defiantly) accepted loss of various things they would have once tried to protect as inevitable. Everything from mail carriers who were part of their neighborhood's daily life to summers that were lovely instead of intolerable, unhealthy, and getting worse.

[Joinfortmill]

21. We are.

[link:http://|

[ancianita]

22. What you're talking about reminds me of Neal Stephenson's greatest book, imo, called SevenEves.

It'a a palindrome title. It begins with a huge asteroid hitting the moon, and breaking it into three huge pieces. But its decomposition grows to millions of smaller bits that are slowly being drawn by Earth's gravity and all of mankind has three years to save itself before it is showered with fire and destruction. The story of how politics, with a woman president, plays out, along with all the greatest minds on the planet working on solutions, is fascinating. The novel spans thousands of years.

If you've got time to read, Seven Eves will take a while, but Stephenson's story is beyond brilliant. Thanks for reading.

The Death of America, and what's happening, might have to be perilous while a new America struggles to emerge. There are millions of youth who, if they have anything to do its death and transformation, believe that a new America will come out better. As in build back better, with or without Biden. June 9 should give us all the checklist for how to start.

I hope we show it here live.

[PCIntern]

25. Thank you for that recommendation.

I’m going to find it….

[PCIntern]

26. Ordered from eBay

Thanks

[ancianita]

27. Great. You won't regret it. It's not science fiction, because the science in it will blow you away.

[Warpy]

28. The end will be more and less dramatic than that

It's going to be a slow fade, and not just here, as parts of the world become unlivable.

People short of food are going to get ornery and laugh at Mr. Sociopathic Potentate when he tries to buy what little they have for stacks of cash or even gold. We know that from previous famines, letters written on clay tablets in cuneiform detailing the attempts just before the granary was looted, the palaces set ablaze, and the city abandoned.

We know how this is going to go, it's gone on before. Human progress, such as it is, is discontinuous and highly subject to changes in overall climate. We seem to be heading into a very rough patch, if not a fatal one.

[Kid Berwyn]

29. Hard to put the nonsense into the rear view mirror these days.

“Maybe we've been too silly to deserve a world like this.”