Conservatism and Right Wing – Page 23 – Glen's Parallax Perspectives

Insights and information about taxes, with a few links

June 3, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Taxes are opposed by conservatives who want to keep their riches instead of sharing their money with governmental efforts to help people with education, health, etc. But liberals and progressives also criticize our tax system because it is unfair. Rich people and big corporations get so many loopholes and breaks that they pay less than their fair share. Poor, working class and middle class people pay more than their share. Actually, we should see taxes as the dues we pay for living in a civilized society. That is the ideal. We need to fully fund the governmental services that help […]

9 Ways Authoritarianism Is Taking Hold Under Trump

May 31, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

As you know, I read a huge amount of information. Thom Hartmann’s article at the link below consolidates much solid information into CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT information that the American people need to understand. Trump and Trumpism are imposing horrible authoritarianism upon the U.S. This is an extremely serious — actually existential — danger to American freedom and constitutional democracy. Trump’s authoritarianism abuses many aspects of American society. The article below connects many of the issues we care about, including peace, social justice, environment/climate, economics, and so forth. The article ends with a call for nonviolent organizing to rise up against Trump’s […]

How can we challenge this dominant but destructive economic assumption?

May 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Embedded very deeply in our American culture — and many other nations’ cultures too — is an assumption that is embedded so deeply that nobody recognizes it, let alone challenge it. The assumption is this: It is OK if what I do kills people, so long as I’m making money from what I do. At the surface level — the explicit level — if you were to ask people whether it is moral to kill other people, they would say “no.” But below the surface — at the implicit level — our society tolerates behaviors that knowingly kill people because […]

Public frustration with endless war. Odd implications result from this.

May 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

People in the peace movement keep complaining about “endless wars.” The general public — and Republicans and reactionaries — might also be upset. There might be some odd implications and consequences from this. The peace movement is right to point out that the “War on Terror” that began with Republicans Bush & Cheney continued under Democrat Obama, and now it persists under Republican Trump. The U.S.’s bi-partisan policies of persistent militarism — regardless of which parts of the world we are fighting in — have existed for many years. What are the political implications of this? The U.S. started the […]

We urgently, desperately need HONEST SCIENCE so we can solve problems

May 7, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Do you remember the decades-old saying, “Garbage in — Garbage out”? It referred to the problems with computer systems that receive inputs that are not accurate and — as a result — produce inaccurate outputs. The remedy, of course, is to make sure we have valid, accurate inputs in order to produce good results. Nowadays, the Trump/Republican federal government and many state governments are stuffed with climate deniers, dogmatic religious extremists, and other people who are subservient to special interests. Instead of open-mindedly and honestly trying to solve problems, they exploit governments in order to distort public policies for corrupt […]

U.S.’s long history of anti-intellectualism is bearing rotten fruit now

May 7, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In 1962 the great historian Richard Hofstadter published his book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. I bought it in about 1970 and always wanted to read it. Now I am starting to read it because its message is so horribly relevant now. A long stream of anti-intellectualism has hurt the U.S. in various ways throughout our history. It seems to be worsening now, as the federal government has made the U.S. a “rogue nation” that denies science in many aspects of public policy (environment, climate, health issues, etc.) and deletes honest, accurate scientific information from the federal government’s websites. Under Trump […]

Protect the 2020 census and DEMOCRACY ITSELF from Trump’s racist, partisan abuse!

April 28, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

I’ve been reading a lot about Trump’s blatant attempt to violate the Constitution by politicizing and racializing the 2020 census. This article from MoveOn does a good job of summarizing the crisis succinctly, and it provides an URGENT PETITION that you can sign: Donald Trump and his Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, want to add a question about citizenship to the census. The Constitution states that “all people” must be counted for the census, not just citizens. If this question goes ahead, all urban areas — and big states like California, Florida, New York, and Texas — will lose federal funding […]

Ancient Chinese philosophers predicted Trump’s disruptions of earth’s climate!

April 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Some ancient Chinese philosophers — especially the Taoists, but others too — emphasized the need for moderation, harmony, etc., rather than greed or arrogance or violence. My readings of Taoism show how far the U.S. is away from “the good life” of peace and harmony and public well-being. I’ve been reading books about ancient Chinese philosophy. Just now I read that in about the 3rd or 4th century BC, some Chinese philosophers I the “Grand Norm” school of thought identified what are referred to as “various indications.” The book I’m reading (citation below) says: “These are rain, sunshine, heat, cold, […]

Trump, politicians, media mislead the public about immigrants

April 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Trump’s 2016 political campaign rhetoric and lies about immigrants have continued in subsequent years. Many other politicians act as if Trump’s lies were true. Mainstream media have failed to correct Trump’s lies, so most Americans seem to believe them. There is NOT a flood of immigrants entering the U.S. from Mexico. Actually, the numbers dropped 90% from 1.7 million in 2005 to only 170,000 in 2015. Also, more Mexican people are LEAVING the U.S. and moving to Mexico than vice versa. Most people who are here illegally did NOT come from our southern border. Most came here on tourist visas, […]

Protecting science from corruption is URGENT and CRUCIAL

April 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

A huge number of scientists wrote a powerful statement in 2017 explaining how “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.” They strengthened the statement in 2018 and now 20,000 scientists signed on to this “Warning to Humanity.” This is yet one more reason why we need honest science to drive public policy. Read the “Warning to Humanity” article at https://www.ecowatch.com/warning-to-humanity-scientists-2544973158.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=aaad04f9dd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-aaad04f9dd-85369701 Republicans’ partisan bias against science and reality: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/29/1752981/-Lies-have-a-conservative-bias-Republicans-up-their-war-on-science?detail=emaildkre The government needs good, honest science in order to devise smart public policy. However, the agencies under Trump have been slashing the numbers of competent scientists, failing to consider […]

Saturday April 14: Participate in Olympia’s March for Science!

April 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

11:00 a.m. at Washington State Capitol steps. Hear a few brief speakers. 11:45 Proceed down Capitol Way, turn left (decision pending on whether to turn left on Legion Way or 5th Ave), and enter Heritage Park. Visit informational booths until 2:00 p.m.. • Stop the denialism and corruption that interfere with honest science and good public policy. • Demand that public officials respect honest science and enact evidence-based public policies. • Human beings and our natural environment need this! Background and more information: • The head of the U.S.’s Environmental Protection Agency does not “believe” in climate change and works […]

A minister, a priest and a rabbi walked into a bar …

April 5, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

You’ve heard jokes that start with this line: “A minister, a priest and a rabbi walked into a bar ….” How about this? They walked in and asked the customers whether they wanted to make their own decisions about which religious bodies (if any) to financially support, or whether they wanted Big Government to take their tax dollars and — instead of funding public schools that treat everyone fairly — spend their tax dollars to fund schools owned and operated by religions they did not agree with, so those religions could indoctrinate school children in their religious dogmas. Of course, […]

Norway and Sweden have more humane criminal justice systems

February 25, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. has a very harsh (and ineffective) criminal justice system, compared to other modern nations. Here is some information about Norway and Sweden that I saved from a few years ago: Norway’s prisons are much better than the U.S.’s. Instead of dehumanizing their inmates, they help prisoners retain their human dignity, so they will become better able to reenter society. http://www.alternet.org/drugs/michael-moore-norway-prison-tony-papa-sentence?akid=13995.2186.s12ezx&rd=1&src=newsletter1051042&t=10 In 2013 Sweden acted sensibly to reduce prison populations. They accomplished this for several reasons including reducing sentence length and emphasizing rehabilitation. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/12-0 I would like to see ordinary Americans (including taxpayers and conservatives) confront elected officials and […]

Reject 4 stupid remedies conservatives have proposed for reducing gun violence in schools

February 25, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Conservatives often misunderstand or distort the problems in our society, and they draw upon distorted values, so they tend to propose remedies that widely diverge from practical solutions to our society’s problems. Here are 4 stupid remedies conservatives have proposed for reducing gun violence in schools: https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/4-conservatives-ideas-preventing-gun-violence-instead-gun-control?akid=16759.2186.DjFJIn&rd=1&src=newsletter1089105&t=4 Thoughtful, humane people need to reject such remedies and organize at the grassroots for remedies that will draw upon society’s best values and valid evidence-based research about what works and what does not work. We also need to organize against the Gun Lobby’s deliberate campaigns to mislead the public and dominate government.

We must DEBUNK “the Myth of Redemptive Violence.”

February 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

U.S. culture has long perpetuated what has been called “The Myth of Redemptive Violence.” Look at the plots of movies about the Wild West, about cops & robbers, about spies, etc. Nearly every movie ends with a big shoot-out in which “the good guys” use violence to defeat “the bad guys.” The U.S. assumes that our military is “the good guys” and we can use violence to defeat “the bad guys” just like in the movies. The problem is that reality does not work that way. The U.S. LOST the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Violence is also PROFOUNDLY […]