Good grief!
What does this spell for the November election in the U.S.A.?
If we ever needed humor, today is the day.
And here it is.
Okay, Gentle Readers, that's (about) it for this week.
Go ye out into the world and make the best of it this weekend and please, please remember: always keep laughing.
Here, kitty-kitty. (uh-oh)
OMG! What a great lineup! Your best ever! How can it be Friday already?
ReplyDeleteBruce
ReplyDeleteI want to read what you or one of your learned colleagues have to say about the resurgent of nationalism around the world, I think this is just one example. Is that's what happening here? France? We've seen the result of nationalism in WW1 and WW2, what are it's effects now?
Tell us, oh learned ones......
Mike, I sent your query on to my friend Tom Cochrun and asked him to answer your question.
DeleteMike and Bruce-
ReplyDeleteNot sure what qualifies me to add any particular insight, but I do listen to people and read a lot.
There is clearly a kind of nativist, nationalist almost xenophobic vibe in the world. Experts say there are several underlying reasons. Economic shift-dislocation of old employment standards and a fundamental change in the way things are made and sold. Too, this is the age of "disruption" and it is an economic force. Uber, AirBandB, and other aspects of the shared economy. The labor movement has fragmented and international trade alliances have forced a major dislocation in old patterns. The inability of established governments to function for the benefit of the masses is another cause. The US Congress is not the only legislative body in the world guilty of an insular form of behavior, beyond accountability. Legislative business is now the product of big money, here and elsewhere. People feel disenfranchised. Low information citizens-a problem everywhere. Social media is now the currency of information exchange and that's contributed to a dumbing down of both media and users. It is a variation of junk in and junk out. There are still credible news services around but their audiences are getting older, smaller while we morph into a twitter, instagram, Facebook world. People are unnerved, more are unemployed, they feel powerless and they see the specter of radical islam as posing a threat. Historically these kind of forces influence desires of isolationism, and nationalism. Putin is a nationalist. The EU is coming unhinged and fear of refugees is a factor. There seems to be no center, no consensus nor cohesion and so people turn to bully leaders, nationalists and demagogues, most right wing. The right historically presents itself as the "traditional" approach. It is not, more often than it is. So much of the current right wing trend in the world is "head in the sand" we don't want refugees and we will fight rather than change. It is an age for demagogues.
The only solace we can take is this too shall pass. Things are periodic. Even right wing and nationalist leaders run the risk of trying patience and lacking solutions. People under Isis control, those who are not holy baloney true believers in a cult, are growing tired of the repression. Historically these kind of down forces can last only so long before the human need for fresh air, liberty and freedom rise up and create new "springs."
No one can say what will happen in the wake of the UK departure from EU other than uncertainty, speculation and nerves. The only thing we can count on is more change. There are new rules and in fact a new game in politics, social evolution and human response.
A PS to an already long response. Many of these forces at work--change, disruption, upheaval, perceived fears are threats and especially so to the "old guard." In the US those most threatened are white men who once held power without challenge. That's changed baby, in the US. French, German, British cultures are very much the same. The old power brokers are under threat, not happy and they beat the drums of fascism, racism and nationalism.
DeleteVery interesting Tom. But when you say "this too shall pass", and I agree it will, the question is, when? After another world-wide conflagration?
DeleteOne can only hope and pray that a sense of human decency and political moderation will prevail.
DeleteNow I can start my weekend with a smile. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGood batch.
ReplyDeleteI've been following the whole issue, hard to believe they went that way. But then, well.
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/06/24/480949383/britains-google-searches-for-what-is-the-eu-spike-after-brexit-vote
Zhoen, I think the story at your link makes a lot of life in the 2010's understandable, if not maddening.
DeleteThose were funny.
ReplyDeleteThe news is not funny.
I refuse to take the extra step and make every single news item into, "What does this news item mean for Donald Trump?"
I look forward to a day - one single day - when Donald Trump is not in the news all day.
That second comic seems especially apt today.
ReplyDeleteLove the one about the lack of artistic appreciation in Target. Hahaha!
ReplyDelete