A Generation Comes and a Generation Goes

••• today's entry continues here below •••

Does this sound right to you? How long, do you reckon, can such injustice continue? (For the sake of argument, I mean.)

Notice the similarities in slope and magnitude of the graph above between the second half of the roaring twenties with where we are right now in 2018.

Our roaring twenties are less than 2 years away.

See .. economic things contain social implications .. which, naturally, carry moral implications. Which means that you must look at economic things from a moral lens.

It seems to me that the only thing that these record-breaking deficits are doing is making the already hyper-wealthy even more wealthy.

They are making the ultra-rich even richer .. at the expense of our children's generation.

Does that sound right to you? Who is destroying who, Tim?

Double Threat » Text + Graphics

One of the reasons why I find Mr. Kreider an interesting fellow is because he both writes and illustrates. They call him a cartoonist, but my point is that he controls both the text and the graphics .. to a high degree. Very high.

Anytime that an artist wields control over more tools .. this is boner-city. William Blake comes to mind. And any time people start comparing you to William Blake .. well, this is a very cool thing.

I am sure that Tim would be the first to tell you that he is no William Blake (1757-1827) .. but there are parallels.

You will notice that I make much use of graphics myself. A relatively small percentage of these graphics are photos that I have taken myself. But mostly, I use images that I search for on the Web.

So, in this sense, I feel a little jealous of him. There are not many people that prompt jealousy in me. So it gets my attention.

There are plenty of people who I genuinely admire and respect and maybe even are in awe of .. yet I do not feel any sense of jealousy from.

Geeks are always trying to figure shit out .. how shit works. Experimenting with this and that and seeing what happens.

[ Girly, this is why we make such a good team .. because I am good at (generating) text and you are good at (generating) graphics.

One of the reasons, anyway. There are others .. many others. ]

But this is not what I want to talk about. I am merely buying time here as I gather my thoughts and formulate how to respond to his column. To some of the things that he said.

It's a bold title, no? » Go Ahead, Millennials, Destroy Us.

» The Natural Order of Things

The first thing that I should probably mention here .. is that the Millennials dont have to do anything special in order to "destroy" the older generation .. because this is the » natural order of things.

All that Millennials have to do in order to "destroy" the older generation .. is simply to » stay alive.

"A generation comes and a generation goes." Were truer words ever spoken?

Even the baddest lion in all of Africa .. though he may reign with unquestioned authority for many years ..

.. someday, the young ones will come for him and they will kill him without mercy.

Someday .. he will meet his end. And it will not be pretty.

He will certainly rage against the dying of his light .. but it will do him no good.

[ There is a line in the classic poem by Dylan Thomas » Do not go gentle into that good night (1951) .. which says » "wise men at their end know dark is right." Food for thought from the Welshman. ]

Eventually, the younger generation will bury every last one of the members of the older generation. Every last one of them.

I asked the Google how old Tim Kreider was .. in order to determine exactly which generation he is part of. But I could not locate this information.

I did, however, come across a number of interesting columns.

» Your Children Will be Your Judges

There is an interesting passage in Matthew's gospel (and also in Luke's) where Jesus tells the Pharisees that their children will be their judges.

From a certain perspective, this seems intuitively obvious .. because the children will still be alive long after the older generation has died off.

And the younger generation will therefore be able to see .. with the advantage of perspective that comes with the passing of the years .. they will be able to see exactly how the choices made by the previous generation played out historically.

I know that this seems obvious .. but sometimes it bears repeating .. as I am sure that Mr. Tim Kreider would agree.

» The Unstoppable Generation

Speaking of your children being your judges .. did you see Samantha throw up during her speech at March for Our Lives in Washington? (24 March 2018)

I am telling you .. these kids are tough. She is not going to let a little vomit stop her. And she for coming for them.

Her friend came out and supported her with a still, comforting hand. Nice touch.

She wax'ed poetic there. I liked that. I appreciated it. She definitely has word skills (.. or knows people who do).

People are in awe of the courage of these kids. I bet that Ana Maria would back me up here.

I see you, Ana Marie. Didnt I tell you that we're cooking with plutonium?

Oh, and here you are with my friends Nick and Mika .. talking about what Aleksandr Kogan said in his response to what Zuckerberg said in his testimony before congress.

Three of my favorite people all at one table. I should probably play the lottery today.

Nick is a Princeton dude. I think that my IQ would feel a good 30 points higher just sitting next to him. Was this your experience?

» An Impressive Galaxy

It may be worth mentioning here .. that I put you in the same galaxy as I do Maureen Dowd.

I confess that I am not familiar enough with your work to determine if such an assignment is indeed valid.

But being grouped anywhere near Maureen .. I would take that as a compliment.

She dazzles me .. with her work .. both the things she says and the ways in which she says them.

Sometimes, after I read one of her columns, I feel like I need to grow (as a person) in order to fully grasp what she is saying.

I do not normally enjoy that feeling.

And I saw you with Bill Maher, too. You definitely raised the level of discussion there. You have been getting around.

» An Eyebrow-Raising Statement

Notice what Columbine shooting survivor, Salli Garrigan, says at the March for Our Lives (24 March 2018):

At t=1:30 the host says to Salli, "You being a Columbine survivor .. the years, the 19 years processing all of that since .. is this something that ever leaves you?"

Salli responds by saying:

"Never. And it always changes how I feel. For some reason, this go 'round with the Parkland shooting, thanks to these kids, has actually given me a sense of hope that I've never felt before. I'm optimistic for once."

Now there's an eyebrow-raising statement .. coming from such a person, with such credentials to speak on such things. Which is why I am noting it here and including a graphic.

Right about here is where I want to tell Ben Sasse to go fuck himself. But I am going to resist that urge .. because Coffee Joe says that he is a good dude.

These kids say that their teachers are the ones who are teaching them how to kick such ass.

This video of Samantha is the #1 Most Popular video right now at the NY Times.

» A Very Elite Club

How many people do you know who can say that they blew chunks in front of a million people .. and kept going like it was nothing?

Not many. (I feel confident that Alex would back me up here.)

I have seen this girl before. She still has bits of shrapnel lodged in her face. Her face actually looks much better than it did before.

On the page from which this page came .. when I wrote about how this generation doesnt seem to be asking for very much ..

.. that they just want to not have to worry about getting shot in the face in school .. this is the girl that I was thinking of.

I was kind of using her as a vehicle to put words into their mouths .. so to speak.

» A Story for the Grandkids

I captured this image here because it says BREAKING NEWS, and at the top it says » Parkland survivor Sam Fuentes vomits during gun protest speech.

I bet that she will appreciate that .. a little keepsake of sorts.

"Let me tell you grandkids about the time that I made Breaking News worldwide. There I was .. standing in front of a million people .. scared shitless, with chunks of shrapnel still stuck in my face .. when all of sudden, I started thinking that maybe my stomach was feeling a little funky .. and the next thing I know. Well, anyway, as I was wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, and looking out over all those people .. those beautiful people .. I thought to myself, 'Not many people fall into this category, Samantha'."

» What Happens When the Values of the Older Generation Clash with Those of the Younger?

This day has arrived. This day is here now. Ask Harvey Weinstein. He will gladly break it down for you. Or even Laura Ingraham. Or Bill Cosby.

Bill Cosby is 80 years old. He was born in 1937. He is clearly a member of the older generation.

Did you know that Trump is the oldest U.S. president ever?

See for yourself. I am not making this up.

Don't you find it telling what Harvey Weinstein said in his first statement following the accusations of sexual abuse.

He said (paraphrasing) » "I grew up in a time when things were different."

Which was a stupid thing to say .. as if there were ever a time when it was okay to sexually abuse women. But his response sheds light on his perspective .. on how he sees the world.

This difference in generational perspectives .. particularly the differences in moral perspectives as characterized by Harvey Weinstein's statement .. this is why only two percent of voters under 45 say they are for Biden.

Krystal knows what I am talking about.

» Putting the Fear of God into the Older Generation

I am impressed with this younger generation.

It is an impressive thing that we are witnessing .. right before our very eyes.

People are rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

They are going after values that they view as the shittiest of the shitty. They know that it is just a matter of time now .. dot, dot, dot.

» A Distinct Political Talent

At t=5:10 here, speaking of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Chris Hayes says, "She has a tremendous amount of distinct political talent. She is very good at doing this."

When I heard him say this, I thought, "Fucking 'eh right."

Did you see that smackdown she laid upon that Rep from Florida, who was talking smack about her?

That is some political jujitsu right there. She is a natural.

Here she is mocking the intelligence of Donald Trump Jr (7 Dec 2018).

She is 28 and she is putting the fear of God into the older generation .. people such as actor James Woods, who was born in 1947.

His generation is on the way out .. even as she speaks. They have had their day in the sun .. and they fucked things up royally.

Notice how George W Bush and Donald Trump and James Woods and the average Fox News viewer (age 70) all grew up and spent their formative years in an era where the values of their generation were warped by the effects of the Great Depression.

And also by a World War, which helped to form and mold their severely-warped value-structure.

This why billionaires such as Jeffrey Epstein want to hoard their billions .. despite so many who are doing without even their basic needs being met.

Money is the thing that makes billionaires feel safe. They are trusting in and depending on that money to meet their needs .. all of them.

Nobody complains about socialism when they get their Social Security check in the mail. Bernie knows what I am talking about.

Here she is responding to a bit by Sean Hannity where she calls attention to the fact that he is acting as a shill for the super-rich (23 Jan 2019).

She is a political ninja and she makes it look easy.

"Go fuck yourself, Sean." This is yet another reason why you are Bad for America.

» The Immorality of a Socioeconomic System that is Designed to Allow So Many Billionaires (540) to Exist Amid Such Widespread Hardship

Speaking of every billionaire being a policy failure .. check out what AOC says here (30 Jan 2019).

Where she says (at t=0:40) that an economic system that allows billionaires to exist amid such widespread economic hardship .. is wrong. It is immoral.

I could not agree more .. which is why I am citing her comment here. Polls show that a whopping 70% of Americans agree with her. (I am one of them, yes.)

At t=8:00 she provides part of the reasoning and rationale behind her opinion and why she feels this way.

She makes this statement to Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is a leading educated voice representing the black experience in America. He is the guy whote the piece titled » I'm Not Black, I'm Kanye (7 May 2018).

» On the Cusp of a New Political Epoch

Michelle writes here (15 Feb 2019):

If we are in fact on the cusp of a new political epoch, then a sweeping, idealistic plan for social transformation is not a wild fantasy but a practical necessity.

Food for thought.

Ooh .. that sounds sexy. A new political epoch.

The fact of the matter is .. that our current political epoch is so fucked up .. a government of such mind-boggling incompetence ..

.. that, if we dont get a new political epoch, and pretty fucking soon .. then their won't be much of a country left after this older generation dies off .. because the country is headed down the shitter with a vengeance.

It is sad that things have come to this point .. the most cruel and corrupt government in our nation's history.

When Trump's generation is dead and gone .. which won't be very long now .. when George Bush and the rest of Trump's generation take their last breath, which everybody does, sooner or later .. who is going to miss them?

The generation of shitty values and dysfunctional priorities. Good riddens.

» You Could Never Make Up Shit this Bizarre

For the writer, this is a very cool time to be alive. A part of me is thanking God right now.

You must admit that there is one bizarro story after another coming out of Washington and the White House. You could never make up shit this absurd.

Prometheus said » "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." 

Actually, Ralph Waldo Emerson put those words into the mouth of Prometheus.

The ideas behind this constant stream of bizarre accounts ..

.. would have surely seemed insane only a short time ago.

My, how things change.

I happen to know a little something myself about the nature of things in bizarro land .. which is why I had to get the fuck outta there soon as I possibly could.

This is the end of this page. ■

It is a different theme, but the next entry is titled » Nothing But Respect (19 March 2018).

Return to » Cooking with Plutonium - Page Two (19 March 2018).

Analyze this page's HTML profile » here.

Movable Type archives

Radified home

<ignore this intentional bottom text spacer, too>