Stephen Altschuler

thoughts on environment, politics, health, life issues

Human nature

What’s on my mind this 4th of July

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Yes, what’s on my mind is my sense that many are weary of information about the virus and racism and white privilege and Donald Trump and protests. It was true in the 60s as well, but they were different times, when the country was actively at war and there were no social media to bombard us with information as today. There was no pandemic raging amongst us then. And there was no president quite like the one we have now. So I fear that a complacency is descending upon us like a dense fog, obstructing our view and deadening our resolve. We pull the covers over our heads and go back to sleep, hoping that when we finally wake it will all be OK, the world returned to a morning field of daffodils that will bloom forever.


My wife is reading a book about slavery and what life was like for them. I asked her what they ate, whether they had the opportunity to relieve themselves, whether they got breaks during work hours, etc. What she told me was very hard to hear, making me sad to think human beings could treat other human beings that way. I’ve been listening to the podcast 1619 lately and have learned that such treatment, in more subtle forms, is still happening today.

Anyway, these are some of the things on my mind on this 4th of July. Be well, and be thankful for any good fortune that comes your way.

Comparing Trump to the Nazis

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Ideally, every generation would become a bit more wise and compassionate as time progresses. And this is true in certain instances.   There are wonderful people in this country: bright, compassionate, involved, concerned, caring, and loving.  But in many instances, this is not the case. And so we have people who still follow Nazi ideals, dictates, and actions.  Unfortunately one of those people is the current president of the United States: Donald J. Trump.  Let’s examine this more closely.

  • • Trump is a white supremacist. He has used his bully pulpit to open the door to white supremacist groups in this country and worldwide, paving the way for them to spread their hatred for Jews, Blacks, Moslems, Hispanics, and others. 
  • • Trump, as a dysfunctional adolescent might, made fun of disabled people in public. On Twitter, he assigns immature nicknames and insults onto those who don’t fall into lockstep behind him.
  • • Americans who are physically or mentally disabled often depend on government health care such as Obamacare and Medicaid to survive. Trump wants to end both programs, denying such health care to the disabled and financially disadvantaged.
  • • Trump is obsessed with reversing every accomplishment that Barack Obama made during his time in office.  From his false Birther allegations to his unfounded Obamagate accusations, Trump reveals his racist nature.
  • • Trump chronically blames others for the same transgressions that he is guilty of, obsessively denying any responsibility for his own behavior and their consequences. I needn’t delineate these since they occur daily in his puerile tweets and hyperbolic speeches. He is Scapegoater in Chief.
  • • Trump coddles pseudo-strongmen like Putin, Kim Jong Un, Erdegan, Bolsonaro, as he weakens NATO and the protections it offers to its members. He withdraws from vital treaties, particularly ones that Obama negotiated. 
  • • Trump holds his political rallies in a time of a catastrophic pandemic, putting people in great danger and harm to satisfy his own needs and purposes. 
  • • The Nazis depended on fear and fake news, as does Donald Trump. Just about everything out of Trump’s mouth is a lie, and most of the news coming out of his White House and his state media enabler, Fox News, is fake and false, meant to deceive and influence a gullible public. In Nazi Germany and their occupied nations, there was no free press, thus easily manipulating the public as a leader might his cult followers. All news was propaganda designed to keep the Nazis in power and the people in a state of fear and ignorance.
  • • Trump is well aware that Covid-19 is killing a greater percentage of Blacks than any other group, and is content with letting them die by denying them proper health coverage. Trump’s support of White Power and his Law and Order threats against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters grossly portray his intensions against people who don’t think like him or who he perceives as blocking his reelection.
  • • Trump’s proposed wall on our Southern border with Mexico has become an albatross around his neck, a racist symbol he continues to feed to his minions of cult supporters. 
  • • Countries like Russia and England attempted to appease Hitler in an attempt at a peaceful solution.  Trump tries to appease villains like Putin and Kim Jong Un, giving them validity via flattery. In an act of possible treason, Trump knew of, and failed to act upon, Putin’s scheme of giving a bounty to the Taliban for every American soldier killed. What does Putin have on this man?
  • • By saying little to restrict and prosecute fascist white supremacist and nationalist groups, Trump (and his puppet William Barr) essentially give permission to these thugs, similar to Hitler’s sadistic Brown Shirts, to intimidate and do harm to minorities, particularly Blacks and Jews.  Instead he attacks antifa, a small, decentralized left wing group which acts to oppose fascist groups when they march and demonstrate. Antifa may sometimes go too far, but they at least perform the important service of opposing these ultra right fascists, a responsibility Trump and Barr have abandoned.
  • Trump, impulsive and paranoid, has control of the codes that can trigger a nuclear war.

There’s more, of course (another Supreme Court choice, a lack of sane gun control). I could write a book. As the Nazis were stopped in WWII, Trump needs to be stopped. Our democracy is at stake. Our freedoms are at stake. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are at stake. With Trump we are headed to an authoritarian government similar to the one described in George Orwell’s prophetic novel, 1984. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, please read it. It’s still very much in print, and even more relevant today than the day it was published.

Abe and Gert: A morning with a couple of coronaviruses

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Abe and Gert: A morning with a couple of coronaviruses

 

Location: a café

 

Characters : Abe and Gert, two coronavirus friends inside a cup stained with coffee and some chocolate croissant crumbs

 

Day after the Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

Abe: So how’d you sleep last night, Gert?

 

Gert: Sleep. Are you kidding? I hardly slept a wink.  I was expecting a feast last night and what did we get—kibble and some bozzo talking for two hours about how he shuffled down a ramp or something. Dude, that guy was so over the top he was like standing on his head. One of our guys told me he was president or something.  But like nobody was there, at least not as many as we expected. Bummer.

 

Abe: Right. Definitely a downer. I mean they had no regard for us. We gotta make a living too , right. BTW, Gert, you look kind of sleepy cute this morning. I don’t know. There’s something about your pigtails. They like sparkle.

 

Gert. Oh please. They’re a mess. I’m hoping to get to the hair dresser today but I don’t think they opened them yet. What do they have against us, closing everything down?

 

Abe: I know. But not to worry. They’re opening again and people are starting to flock after all this time in isolation.  The Covid futures market is booming. You should see my 401Kovid. It hasn’t been this high since the SARS market a few years ago.  That reminds me, I’ve got to call my broker. I got an inside tip on a stock pick that a friend of mine in the White House called me about. This is about to spread like wildfire.

 

Gert: Really. Pray tell. I’m all antennae. And BTW, where is this Trump character going for his next rally. I’ve got to book a ticket.  A lot of our folks were able to infect quite a few last night as just about no one was wearing a mask or social distancing.  Wasn’t that great. They think we’re done, finished, washed up. Arent’ humans wonderful to be around. They’re so accommodating.

 

Abe: And so naïve.  My only fear is that we’ll starve when there are no more of them left.

 

Gert: I know. I lose sleep over that prospect.

 

Abe: OK. Finish your coffee and crumbs. We’ve got a full work day ahead of us.

 

Gert: Right. Ugh. I’ve had way too much chocolate. There goes my figure.

 

END

 

copyright Stephen Altschuler 2020

That Which Stands in the Way of…

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Climate Change and Covid-19 prevention

Making significant progress towards reversing climate change involves sacrifice and change on a massive scale. Up until the coronavirus pandemic I saw no possibility of this ever happening to the degree that it had to happen. The pandemic though forced the issue since not to act meant possible illness and death–and a very uncomfortable and lonely death at that. To date, a relative few place climate change on the same level of urgency as the current pandemic. And many, including leaders in Washington and in many states, are even minimizing the pandemic, pretending that it’s over and no longer a threat to public health.

They ignore the current increasing numbers of infections among children, adolescents and young adults, choosing to forsake social distancing and wearing facial masks when advised or required. People in our culture often resist doing what government requires them to do. They tire of restrictions or lament the effects on the economy. Or perhaps their vanity tells them to not wear a mask since others will then be unable to see their handsome or pretty features. Or their concern for their privacy warrants resistance to effective contact tracing which is so vital to the control of the spread of the pandemic. At first, many opposed a ban on smoking, mandated [Read more…] about That Which Stands in the Way of…

Understanding White Privilege

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I finally understand what white privilege is, after not understanding for a long time. I always justified it by saying, to my wife, mostly, that I had no control of my skin color at birth and so how could I be privileged when compared to a black person. On the other hand, do I have to think about my skin color and how society will respond to it when I leave the house? Other than have to put sunblock on my very light white skin, I did not have to think about my skin color when in society or how people will respond to it. That, in a few words, is white privilege. It doesn’t make me a racist but it does make me much more aware of how a black person feels when he or she leaves his or her house in America. Whether it be the police, the grocery store, the bank, the gym, a school, or even a sporting event blacks know they will often be judged by the color of their skin and not their character or personality or achievements. Whites  may not have an easy life financially, emotionally, or physically, but, other than sunblock, they do not have to worry about their skin color and how people will react to them because of it. That is white privilege.

And that is not acceptable in a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, democratic, supposedly free, society. The plaque on the Statue of Liberty invites all to our shores. We have and do represent a hope for the [Read more…] about Understanding White Privilege

People, by nature, are…

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In my experience, people, by nature, like to help each other. Helping a woman who cannot reach an item on a high shelf at the market. Helping an older man who has tripped over a curb and fallen. Offering a meal to one less fortunate than ourselves. Assisting a neighbor whose house has been flooded by a swollen river. Helping someone get to the polls no matter what their political persuasion. This is generally true when we’re talking about an individual helping another individual. Usually color, creed, religion, ideology does not enter the equation. Someone’s in trouble or inconvenienced: We’ll often go help them. No judgements. No hesitation. No decisions. The human instinct is to help, setting aside all conditions to the contrary, even one’s personal safety at times, as in helping the victim of a mugging while that attack is taking place.

Even the right wing radicals of Charlottesville would likely react this way to an individual in need. But as soon as you dehumanize and demonize individuals into a maligned class designation, such as Jews, Blacks, Muslims, Foreigners, Hispanics, Liberals, and so forth, you open up a Pandora’s Box of actions often tinged with innuendo, hatred, and even violence based on some stereotyped, prejudiced image of each group. When we start judging people more by “the color of their skin than by the content of their character,” paraphrasing  Martin Luther King Jr., we open the door to an Archie Bunker-barrage of slurs designed to denigrate and disparage.

The solution to this emphasis on hatred derived from prejudice towards broadly stated groups is a long term one. It starts with [Read more…] about People, by nature, are…