Wake Up People

I’m writing today about three unrelated items that come together as commentary on our time.

The first is a video of J D Vance answering questions on Meet the Press. Without any hedging or apologies he is arguing for a full political takeover of universities. We need Viktor Orban’s state censorship here? How have we reached the stage where a mainstream party is proposing totalitarian behavior as a model?

Second, I just finished one of the most disturbing novels I’ve ever read. On the face of it, it’s a story about high school, where there reader only gradually learns what has happened as told by ten different speakers. What’s horrifying is that something terrible happens without anyone owning up-even to themselves-about what was really going on. The horror didn’t just happen; it was allowed to happen. I don’t know if the author thought of it as a metaphor, but it sure feels like where we are.

Finally, like everyone else I’m confronted by the Gaza mess everyday. It’s only pushing things a little to say that Netanyahu seems to have decided that if he’s going down, he’s going to take Israel with him. Israel gave dictatorial power to a narcissist who promised security-and he ran Israel for HIMSELF. If there was ever a cautionary tale this is it.

Can’t we wake up?

Originally published at http://ontheoutside.blog on May 20, 2024.