You know one of the things that I am thoroughly sick of is my neighbor's strongly held belief the "goodness of mainstreet America".
I cannot think of a shred of evidence to support this claim.
What brought this all up is a conversation held in my carpool yesterday morning. My moron carpooler asked what I thought about Reiki, when I responded that there may well be something to it that it appears to have some positive benefits and no seeming harm, she became indignant.
You see according to her, Reiki is a form of Satanism. She then went through and vented for a while on the ungodliness of America to allow such things to be taught.
In a way she is my touchstone of what it takes to be an American. Our way is the best, we only need to become the fine folks that our forefathers were. Proof of your goodness lies in your wealth. You know, an American. Her houses are underwater and she struggles with paying the bills. Her husband hasn't had a job for two+ years. She complains because the folks who manage her four timeshares are indignant because she hasn't paid them.
Look here folks all of us are surrounded by folks who just can't seem to manage to think things through. These folks make up the bulk of the US population. So, if a majority of the population is a bunch of fools who cannot take the time to pay attention to the world around them and who lash out blindly at anything that doesn't fit their mass-produced, self-aggrandizing self images, can we call such a population good?
We are an odd culture, with our behaviors and our actions wildly divergent from our pronounced ideals. But the blogs that we read and the beliefs that we espouse all seem to come back to the belief that "The American People", if they are just allowed to make the choice, would set things to right and drive out the evil cabal who is doing bad things.
More and more, I am coming to the conclusion that the leadership in Washington is a true and accurate representation of the beliefs and views of the populace. The fiscal bankruptcy we are seeing is a true reflection of the crazed and needy desires of "The American People". The increasingly draconian and intrusive machinations of a security apparatus the earnest manifestation of the desires of the majority of the populace to repress anything different than their self-image.
I am not at all certain that a mature culture can be built out of such material. I don't have any idea of what to try next, but I am becoming increasingly convinced that democracy is a poor substitute for a republic.
4 comments:
Well at least she carpools! LOL
I did not know what Reiki was, and I doubt it is because I am so saintly that nothing Satanic touches me. I'll bet she doesn't like Star Wars either.
My little boy stepped on his Lego Boba Fet just before Bin Laden got his. He has been working on his ability with the force (he is in first grade) and was convinced that he had been able to move the curtains in his room. Obviously, he has been practicing the Voodoo-force as well.
That she would ask you about something she hates without queuing you as to her feelings, pretty much tells you where she is at. There is a certain large segment of our population that cloaks all of its actions into a certain sanctimony of the true-believer. As they are true-believers everything they say and believe must be correct. Note that not all of these true-believers are "religious" either: the doomer crowd can get interesting at times.
A large percentage of the rest does not care much about anything and simply want to do what they want to do. Anything that will allow them to do this is o.k. with them.
I think there are a fair number of reasonable people out there, but they are drowned out by all the noise.
'Gringo, you are 100% correct. I am sickened daily by the morons that surround me, cheering on their own slavery while cloaked in the flag of "freedom". They are nothing more than proof positive of Stockholm Syndrome's validity. They've no clue that they are 100% responsible for everything going on around them. And they could care less about anyone but themselves...
I too (like russell1200) had to look up Reiki. About a paragraph into wikipedia's "Reiki" entry, I lost interest: sounds like another strain of imported snake oil, like Acupuncture, Feng Shui, etc.
I imagine Reiki (whatever that is, exactly) may have some positive effect. There have been comparative studies of different sorts of talk therapy/analysis that suggest all brands of talk therapy can be beneficial, regardless of whether it’s Freudian or Jungian or whatever. Because talking to someone about your problems can be helpful, even if the theoretical underpinnings of the talking are bunk.
And maybe having whatever sort of healer attend to you (Reiki adept, faith healer, witch doctor, etc.) can reduce your stress, make you feel cared for, improve things. As long as you don’t spend too much money on it, or forego life-saving dialysis in favor of it, no harm done? And if you buy into the underpinnings (the snake oil), some enhanced placebo effect may kick in.
But I’m suspicious of snake oil, I don’t like magical thinking. I view comforting delusion as inherently unhealthy, both for the individual and, collectively, for humanity. Now more than ever, we need to be as pragmatic and fact-facing as we can be. I know there are arguments, strong ones, to the contrary, including the claim that the facts as I see them are not the real facts.
By the way, I exempt Eastern contemplative practices, such as yoga and meditation, from my prejudice against things delusional. You can remove the Buddhist or Hindu trappings from meditation, and you’re still meditating, you’re regulating your breath, body, and brain in a certain way, and that’s a real thing, as real as hiking up a mountain.
As for your neighbor, it sounds like the exotic, imported snake oils don’t mix well with her domestic snake oil.
Regarding inherent goodness of Main Street America, I guess that’s Americans sentimentalizing themselves and trying to feel superior, or at least okay about themselves. Don’t most nations/cultures do that in one way or another? It’s self-serving bullshit, but it feels good.
I too (like russell1200) had to look up Reiki. About a paragraph into wikipedia's "Reiki" entry, I lost interest: sounds like another strain of imported snake oil, like Acupuncture, Feng Shui, etc.
I imagine Reiki (whatever that is, exactly) may have some positive effect. There have been comparative studies of different sorts of talk therapy/analysis that suggest all brands of talk therapy can be beneficial, regardless of whether it’s Freudian or Jungian or whatever. Because talking to someone about your problems can be helpful, even if the theoretical underpinnings of the talking are bunk.
And maybe having whatever sort of healer attend to you (Reiki adept, faith healer, witch doctor, etc.) can reduce your stress, make you feel cared for, improve things. As long as you don’t spend too much money on it, or forego life-saving dialysis in favor of it, no harm done? And if you buy into the underpinnings (the snake oil), some enhanced placebo effect may kick in.
But I’m suspicious of snake oil, I don’t like magical thinking. I view comforting delusion as inherently unhealthy, both for the individual and, collectively, for humanity. Now more than ever, we need to be as pragmatic and fact-facing as we can be. I know there are arguments, strong ones, to the contrary, including the claim that the facts as I see them are not the real facts.
By the way, I exempt Eastern contemplative practices, such as yoga and meditation, from my prejudice against things delusional. You can remove the Buddhist or Hindu trappings from meditation, and you’re still meditating, you’re regulating your breath, body, and brain in a certain way, and that’s a real thing, as real as hiking up a mountain.
As for your neighbor, it sounds like the exotic, imported snake oils don’t mix well with her domestic snake oil.
Regarding inherent goodness of Main Street America, I guess that’s Americans sentimentalizing themselves and trying to feel superior, or at least okay about themselves. Don’t most nations/cultures do that in one way or another? It’s self-serving bullshit, but it feels good.
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