Off topic, but funny that you mention Bright Sided, I was just thinking about that book yesterday! I feel like there are a lot of people (liberals, apolitical people, even conservatives) who aren’t appalled at what’s happening or maybe they are appalled but they aren’t doing anything to stop it because of their core belief that “everything will end up ok”. These were folks who didn’t believe our warnings that no, no they won’t be. Optimism bias is something I sorely lack and that makes me a Carol among colleagues, and reading Barbara Ehrenreich gave me a bit of peace. But now my lack of optimism bias has me going absolutely crazy as I see us sinking deeper into authoritarian quicksand with no lifeline in sight. And some of my friends and colleagues are relatively chill, they think that God is in control or they just think things will work themselves out. I had a moment yesterday when I wished Barbara was still alive and what would she say about these times. Sorry to not talk about Pluribus but thank you for bringing up Barbara. ❤️
"Bright Sided, I was just thinking about that book yesterday! I feel like there are a lot of people (liberals, apolitical people, even conservatives) who aren’t appalled at what’s happening or maybe they are appalled but they aren’t doing anything to stop it because of their core belief that “everything will end up ok”. "
This reminds me of Simon Mayo's anodyne comment on the movie and television review show he hosts with Mark Kermode—"Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, it's not the end."
While a part of me wants to believe that, another part of me looks at Donald Trump and goes "Fuck You, it's all wrong, and we need to crush the evil that that fucking spoiled manchild and the Fatcat Right 'think tanks' that let him get away with his shit over and over are responsible for."
ICE will not be all right in the end—The Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, is not at all right in the beginning, middle, or end. America has never needed a *Reichsprotektorate*, because an agency like that, which can operate outside of the limits put on law enforcement, was created to be horribly abused by those in power to silence dissent.
Our entire U.S. society is FUBAR because the rich don't want to pay their fair share of taxes, and they don't mind if the United States falls to pieces because That Works Just Dandy For Them. Besides, they think they're all going to fly off to luxury condos on Mars right about the time everything goes to Hell on Earth....
Separate point regarding the reference to “looking on the bright side”: I recall a scene from “Ordinary People” when Timothy Hutton is in his therapist’s office after the shocking revelation that one of his friends from the mental health hospital just committed suicide, when he just saw her mere weeks before, seemingly OK. He’s freaking out and pacing and says something along the lines of “I JUST WANT TO FEEL BAD ABOUT THIS! LET ME FEEL BAD ABOUT IT!” And this, too, is what Carol is hoping to do: to grieve her wife the way she needs to grieve and the hive simply won’t let her. It’s a fundamental piece of being human—grieving great losses and missing those you love.
It’s a really interesting show, IMO. Even though it’s hard to like Carol, you’re still rooting for her to rage against the machine. She now has a counterpart in one of the other survivors from South America. Like her, he’s naturally skeptical of being “converted”, and they don’t necessarily like each other. I look forward to the next season when they will likely find a way to work together to fight the ticking clock that is their consciousness independence from the hive.
To paraphrase Michael Scott, “They’re not happy, they’re insane!”
It is interesting to have happiness and contentment framed as pathological or even sinister (looking at you, rugged individualist, movement conservative types). I’ve enjoyed the show so far, the writing is consistent with VG’s other shows (better than almost anything) and looking forward to how our South American enigma plays out.
Off topic, but funny that you mention Bright Sided, I was just thinking about that book yesterday! I feel like there are a lot of people (liberals, apolitical people, even conservatives) who aren’t appalled at what’s happening or maybe they are appalled but they aren’t doing anything to stop it because of their core belief that “everything will end up ok”. These were folks who didn’t believe our warnings that no, no they won’t be. Optimism bias is something I sorely lack and that makes me a Carol among colleagues, and reading Barbara Ehrenreich gave me a bit of peace. But now my lack of optimism bias has me going absolutely crazy as I see us sinking deeper into authoritarian quicksand with no lifeline in sight. And some of my friends and colleagues are relatively chill, they think that God is in control or they just think things will work themselves out. I had a moment yesterday when I wished Barbara was still alive and what would she say about these times. Sorry to not talk about Pluribus but thank you for bringing up Barbara. ❤️
"Bright Sided, I was just thinking about that book yesterday! I feel like there are a lot of people (liberals, apolitical people, even conservatives) who aren’t appalled at what’s happening or maybe they are appalled but they aren’t doing anything to stop it because of their core belief that “everything will end up ok”. "
This reminds me of Simon Mayo's anodyne comment on the movie and television review show he hosts with Mark Kermode—"Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, it's not the end."
While a part of me wants to believe that, another part of me looks at Donald Trump and goes "Fuck You, it's all wrong, and we need to crush the evil that that fucking spoiled manchild and the Fatcat Right 'think tanks' that let him get away with his shit over and over are responsible for."
ICE will not be all right in the end—The Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, is not at all right in the beginning, middle, or end. America has never needed a *Reichsprotektorate*, because an agency like that, which can operate outside of the limits put on law enforcement, was created to be horribly abused by those in power to silence dissent.
Our entire U.S. society is FUBAR because the rich don't want to pay their fair share of taxes, and they don't mind if the United States falls to pieces because That Works Just Dandy For Them. Besides, they think they're all going to fly off to luxury condos on Mars right about the time everything goes to Hell on Earth....
Separate point regarding the reference to “looking on the bright side”: I recall a scene from “Ordinary People” when Timothy Hutton is in his therapist’s office after the shocking revelation that one of his friends from the mental health hospital just committed suicide, when he just saw her mere weeks before, seemingly OK. He’s freaking out and pacing and says something along the lines of “I JUST WANT TO FEEL BAD ABOUT THIS! LET ME FEEL BAD ABOUT IT!” And this, too, is what Carol is hoping to do: to grieve her wife the way she needs to grieve and the hive simply won’t let her. It’s a fundamental piece of being human—grieving great losses and missing those you love.
I love this show. Whether Carol is likeable or not, I am on her side.
It’s a really interesting show, IMO. Even though it’s hard to like Carol, you’re still rooting for her to rage against the machine. She now has a counterpart in one of the other survivors from South America. Like her, he’s naturally skeptical of being “converted”, and they don’t necessarily like each other. I look forward to the next season when they will likely find a way to work together to fight the ticking clock that is their consciousness independence from the hive.
To paraphrase Michael Scott, “They’re not happy, they’re insane!”
It is interesting to have happiness and contentment framed as pathological or even sinister (looking at you, rugged individualist, movement conservative types). I’ve enjoyed the show so far, the writing is consistent with VG’s other shows (better than almost anything) and looking forward to how our South American enigma plays out.