Category: Cold Civil War

The Big Ring: Soft First Contact?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is all very curious. I know it’s kind of loony and out there to suggest this or that strange thing is “aliens,” but…this Big Ring a few billion light years away is kind of blowing my mind.

The Big Ring

The issue about The Big Ring is it just doesn’t look naturally made. It looks like some sort of intelligence was involved in its creation. But, it’s one of those things were we just don’t know.

It’s not like it’s a signal from outer space saying, “Hi! We’re aliens!” So, it’s too easy for Very Serious People to dismiss The Big Ring as just a fluke that we can’t explain, and, as such, of very natural design.

But I Want To Believe, as they say on The X Files.

I will note, however, that we are entering an election year and just imagine how the political dynamic would change if we did have some sort of Hard First Contact later this year before the election and the issue wasn’t about building a wall, but rather who would be the leader of humanity.

I think the funniest part of all of this is if First Contact happened…and nobody cared.

The Mad Red King

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The key thing to remember about all of this “dictator” talk by Trump is he just wants that idea rolling around people’s minds should he get re-elected. It will, in his ding-dong brain — give him more wiggle room when it comes to what he can actually do.

While I hate to compare someone as lazy and dumb as Trump to an actual Great Man of history, it is easy to compare Trump as Julius Caesar. Just like Caesar, Trump could be a transitional figure for our hobbled Republic. It could be that for no other reason than Trump is old, fat and lazy as fuck that it won’t be him who turns us into a Russian-style autocracy, but, rather his next Republican successor.

But all of this won’t happen in a political or historical vacuum. The United States is not a one-to-one with the late Roman Republic, as much it might be easy to assume that it is. The US is more likely to collapse into revolution and civil war than it is to peacefully transition into autocracy — especially under the ham-handed “guidance” of someone like Trump.

And, remember, after Caesar’s death, there was a huge civil war. So, I think rather than us assuming Trump is an American Caesar, we need to think seriously about the global implications of the world’s hyperpower buckling into autocracy, revolution and civil war.

We Need A Media Outlet To Believe In

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The potency of The New York Times comes from how many people believe in it. And, in its own way, that’s what made Gawker Media so potent at one point — it was easy to believe in it. Until it wasn’t because it was icky.

I have a tendency to draw attention to myself.

But I do believe that there is a market — and audience — for a media outlet that leans into the spirit of the old Gawker’s early days when it was a fun, snarky blog that rallied the troops every day with its call for droll common sense.

Of course, the obvious venue for this would be a podcasting network of some sort. And, yet, I think even podcasting is so mature these days that, lulz, why are we even talking about this.

This all makes me think about how if I somehow magically lived in New York City that I would start an old fashion zine that covered whatever borough I lived in. I really enjoy zines — obviously — and if I did a good enough job with the zine, I think people of note would take interest in it.

Put me in, coach.

Of course I would hand the thing out in person in front of offices of The New York Times in an effort to catch media attention for it. Even though I’m old as hell, if I was living in either NYC or LA for any duration of time, I could still draw a lot of attention to myself just by…being myself.

And, yet, lulz.

Anyway, there definitely seems to be something of a vacuum in modern media at the moment. Or maybe everything is so scattered and defuse at this point that since there’s no “center” anymore that it’s just not possible for there to be an alternative to it.

Oh well.

Does The USA Need A ‘Dictator?’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The short answer is: fuck no.

We could see a few of these in late 2024, early 2025.

The longer answer is — it’s complicated. I think there is a good chance that through a combination of Executive Orders and using the pardon power that Trump could probably be something akin to a dictator in 2025 should he win in 2024.

But the thing that the liberal popinjays on Twitter miss is the nation’s slide into dictatorship would NOT happen in a vacuum. People would get pissed! As such, if he did such a thing, I think the following MIGHT happen — Trump is somehow “deposed” and we might get something akin to a military junta with someone like James Mattis as acting president.

That is all VERY SPECULTIVE.

But the point is — it’s at least possible that late 2024, early 2025 could see some amazing, unprecedented political and historical events take place. What’s more, if the USA implodes, the the entire post-WW2 global order will implode, too.

We could see about 1 billion people around the globe die DIRECTLY because of ding-dong Trump being such a fucking idiot.

What The Fuck Is Wrong With The USA?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

All I can say is, it definitely seems as though we’re careening towards a very, very dark future. As I keep saying, they say you go bankrupt gradually, then all at once and it definitely SEEMS as though in late 2024, early 2025, we’re going to reach the “all at once” part of that particular rule of thumb.


It’s just all very sad. All great empires must come to an end and so, lulz, either America somehow manages to punt our problems down the road or there’s some sort of Black Swan event that saves us — otherwise, yikes, we’re going to implode.

We’re going to turn into an America First autocracy and the post-WW2 liberal world order is going to collapse. Then, oh Lort. Only the good Lawd knows what will happen then.

It just seems very possible that the next few years could be very, very bumpy in ways that we simply can’t predict or control. Trump is a one-person chaos agent and, as such, pretty much no matter what, he is going to put us to the test.

Assessing The Next 12 Months

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The issue of what might happen in the next year could be rather profound in hindsight. The issue first and foremost that no one can predict the future. So, I can write all dystopian hellscape verbiage I want, in the end, only the good Lort knows for sure what is going to happen.

Now, in January of 2024, it definitely SEEMS as though Trump is either going to win and turn us into a very unstable autocracy, or he is going to lose and demand a National Divorce to save his sorry ass on a personal basis.

But there is always a chance that either Trump loses and just slinks off into oblivion, or some Black Swan event happens that no one can predict that gives us an off ramp from a very dark future that none of us can now predict.

And, yet, we have to take seriously at least the possibility that some fucked up shit is going to happen in late 2024, early 2025. It could very well be that the United States as we current conceive of it will no longer exist in a year. It could be that we either are just about to transition into a full-blown MAGA autocracy, or we’re just about to depose Tyrant Trump.

I am growing more and more nervous that because of where I live, I may become some sort of domestic political refugee in about a year. That I will be forced out of my home and forced to move somewhere that better fits my center-Left political views.

But at the moment, that’s kind of out there. It could be that lulz, none of that happens and we’ll somehow — somehow — punt our political and social problems down the road another four years.

We Live In Strange Times

By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are so fucked up at the moment, that it would be nice if Trump got involved in your run-of-the-mill sex scandal. It’s not like it would change anything. He would still be 60,000 votes in five swing states away from being POTUS.

But at least we would have some…entertainment…for a few days or weeks till things go sorted out.

It definitely seems as though ding-dong Trump is, at the moment, an immutable force of American political history. He’s going to either lose and start a civil war by demanding a National Divorce, or win and either transition us into an autocracy or win and cause a revolution on the part of blues which, in turn, causes a civil war by Reds.

All because white Christian (men) are uneasy about the browning of America and the rise of women having more reproductive and economic agency.

Vibe Shift: Culture, Like Nature, Abhors A Vacuum

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Something very curious is going on with Western culture at the moment. And that curious thing is…nothing. There’s just nothing much going on at the moment. There are lot of macro trends that are heading towards something, but there’s just not a lot going on right now.

There are a lot of ways to look at situation.

One is, this is just the usual winter lull in the year. Another is, culture is kind of in a holding pattern until the election. Or, you could say, once the AI generated Toy Story pops out in a few months, and it will be away we go!

But think about it.

For the last 20-odd years, people have dressed pretty much the same. We’ve listened to music that is pretty much the same — with a few notable exceptions. Everything has just been a number of apps maturing in popularity until some — like Facebook — seem like virtual malls. (Not a lot going on and those people who do use them are old people getting their steps in.)

I do think that AI and the Fourth Turning might be two things that upend the rather sedate cultural world we live in at the moment. And it might be that Apple’s Vision Pro is the first thing that REALLY throws everything for a loop. But even that, I think, has a few more years before people will actually want to wear them.

Not until XR glasses are indistinguishable from those wrap around sunglasses that all those angry MAGA chodes wear will they become popular.

What The Fuck Is Wrong With The New York Times?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The New York Times is a great newspaper — maybe even the best newspaper in the world. But as is shown by the existence of the NYTimes Pitchbot parody Twitter account — something, on a structural basis, is wrong with the place. It’s so bad that I fear that the failure of The New York Times to properly address the threat that is Trump will be written about a great deal once we sort all these issues out one way or another.

It seems as though The Times is — on an institutional basis — is really nervous about being seen as a bastion of liberal thought. It is, of course, but it’s doing its readers a disservice by not being more adamant in its defending of freedom in the face of the rise of MAGA fascism.

It’s all very curious.

I mean, if a doofus like me can notice something so obvious, you’d think the popinjays at The Old Gray Lady might do something about it. But, no, here we are. The Republic is on the cusp of either collapsing into civil war / revolution or turning into an autocracy.

Shrug emoji.

The Right’s White Hot Need To ‘Own The Libs’ & The ‘Media Narrative’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the ways the browning of America and the increased economic and political agency of women have warped our politics is white Christian (men) get really worked out up about “owning the libs.”

Bari Weiss is among the conservatives who were “canceled” for not following the evil liberal “media narrative.”

This need to “own the libs” pops out in a variety of ways, but one of them is the idea that the evil liberal cabal is out to get people who don’t follow the liberal, mainstream “media narrative.” As part of this, many conservatives are bad faith free speech absolutist, when they are in fact, just annoyed that they can’t be racist and sexist.

They are also crybaby snowflakes who mistake their lack of engagement for being “shadow banned” when, in fact, their views just aren’t popular.

In my personal life, my conservative relatives — whom I love dearly — are quite haughty about how they’re free speech absolutist and if only the evil liberals would get out of the way, then EVERYONE would see how great and wonderful conservative ideals are.

UGH.

The whole thing is a symptom of how fucked up the political world is these days. Everything. Is. So. Fucked. Up.