This is very man-with-power behavior.
Anybody who has read my posts over the past three years will probably correctly ascertain that I have been going through a mental rough patch. My tirade last week after being turned down for two management positions with my employer after years of such rejection was the latest.
My headspace in recent years has been negatively impacted by the constant news coverage of Trump, who still has an unbelievably faithful following despite his treatment of women and despite his repeated unethical business practices, and of other powerful figures like him.
I have always prided myself on trying to do right by people, and I have always tried to be ethical and decent in all scenarios. However, I am a 52 year-old who is unmarried, who has a modest paycheck-to-paycheck income, and who drives a beat-up 2007 Toyota Tacoma with a check engine light that came on just today. All the while, I see Presidential candidates who are rewarded for their brazen lack of ethics, I see investment companies that make housing unaffordable, I see price gouging with vehicle repair shops, rental companies, and such. I have worked in environmental protection for 28 years and am proud of my work, but, during that time, I have been reminded, time and time again, that, when it comes to the Almighty Dollar, the house always wins, with ethics and our environment taking a back seat. We see people in power finding underhanded ways to increase their own profits, while the vast majority of us are squeezed out to the point that small houses and vehicles are now nearly unattainable goals for many in the middle class.
The more I understand how the game is played, the more I want to take myself out of the game.
Three decades ago, in the Soundgarden song, "Black Hole Sun", Chris Cornell sang, "Times are gone for honest man." Years later, Chris Cornell took his own life.
I know that there are other dynamics involved (drugs, etc.), but I also sometimes wonder if, after he realized how the game is played, he simply decided to take himself out of the game.
I am not planning to take myself out of the game. In fact, I am planning to be around for a long time and to try to find a way to thrive somehow after I hit my 30-year retirement mark in a couple of years. I will not lie, though...the more that I read stuff like the details of Trump's wrongdoings as revealed by these court hearings...the more that I get the impression that, as Cornell sang, times are, indeed, gone for honest man.
A lot of men and women out there who have honest-to-goodness ethics are being squeezed out, with many of them giving up on career advancement, giving up on moving up in the world, and, in the worst instances, just giving up. All the while, people like Trump brazenly parade their disregard for rules and ethics only to be rewarded for it time and time again.
This is not specific to 2024, I know. Our parents' generation probably felt the same way. Our grandparents' generation probably felt the same way. The difference is that, for the most part, they did not have Presidential candidates who overtly give people permission to be the worst versions of themselves...Presidential candidates who are probably setting an example for younger people to follow with even more brazenness in decades to come.
I really, really hope that the decent people can drop the hammer on this on Election Day.
You got 'em. Let the anticipation begin.
That Death Thingy
Anybody who has read my posts over the past three years will probably correctly ascertain that I have been going through a mental rough patch. My tirade last week after being turned down for two management positions with my employer after years of such rejection was the latest. My headspace in recent years has been negatively impacted by the constant news coverage of Trump, who still has an unbelievably faithful following despite his treatment of women and despite his repeated unethical business practices, and of other powerful figures like him. I have always prided myself on trying to do right by people, and I have always tried to be ethical and decent in all scenarios. However, I am a 52 year-old who is unmarried, who has a modest paycheck-to-paycheck income, and who drives a beat-up 2007 Toyota Tacoma with a check engine light that came on just today. All the while, I see Presidential candidates who are rewarded for their brazen lack of ethics, I see investment companies that make housing unaffordable, I see price gouging with vehicle repair shops, rental companies, and such. I have worked in environmental protection for 28 years and am proud of my work, but, during that time, I have been reminded, time and time again, that, when it comes to the Almighty Dollar, the house always wins, with ethics and our environment taking a back seat. We see people in power finding underhanded ways to increase their own profits, while the vast majority of us are squeezed out to the point that small houses and vehicles are now nearly unattainable goals for many in the middle class. The more I understand how the game is played, the more I want to take myself out of the game. Three decades ago, in the Soundgarden song, "Black Hole Sun", Chris Cornell sang, "Times are gone for honest man." Years later, Chris Cornell took his own life. I know that there are other dynamics involved (drugs, etc.), but I also sometimes wonder if, after he realized how the game is played, he simply decided to take himself out of the game. I am not planning to take myself out of the game. In fact, I am planning to be around for a long time and to try to find a way to thrive somehow after I hit my 30-year retirement mark in a couple of years. I will not lie, though...the more that I read stuff like the details of Trump's wrongdoings as revealed by these court hearings...the more that I get the impression that, as Cornell sang, times are, indeed, gone for honest man. A lot of men and women out there who have honest-to-goodness ethics are being squeezed out, with many of them giving up on career advancement, giving up on moving up in the world, and, in the worst instances, just giving up. All the while, people like Trump brazenly parade their disregard for rules and ethics only to be rewarded for it time and time again. This is not specific to 2024, I know. Our parents' generation probably felt the same way. Our grandparents' generation probably felt the same way. The difference is that, for the most part, they did not have Presidential candidates who overtly give people permission to be the worst versions of themselves...Presidential candidates who are probably setting an example for younger people to follow with even more brazenness in decades to come. I really, really hope that the decent people can drop the hammer on this on Election Day.
Me too, Jason. This is like 2016 all over again. Every day I continue to be shocked and baffled as to how much shit that fucking orangutan gets away with. I'm so tired of hearing people bitch about Biden the same way they bitched about Hillary. FFS, Biden is NOT the one who sat on his ass watching the 1/6 insurrection while laughing and doing absolutely nothing. People died and police officers were assaulted, and that asshole doesn't care, yet people still want to vote for him because "I don't like Biden". You want to vote for someone who gives zero fucks for the citizens of this country? Really??? We all know the list goes on and on with the shit he's done, but let's vote for him anyway because gas prices are high. JFC. And you're right - I fear the future, because the young assholes of today will now think that they can be POTUS no matter what they do.
This reminds me of a sad story from BITD. When I was working at the morgue and also at the LRS, a coworker at the LRS asked me about a case. It involved a young man in his 20s who killed himself. The man was a friend of my LRS coworker, and that coworker told me that his friend recently had a DUI. His friend was in college and wanted to get into some sort of political office in the future. After his DUI, he felt that his future career in politics was forever ruined, so he shot himself. A very drastic move, and very sad. But I get it - back then (I think this was around 2008) a DUI might have damaged you as a politician. These days you can fuck a porn star, grab pussy, incite insurrections, call military veterans "suckers and losers", try to overturn an election, violate gag orders, etc. and nothing will happen. These days a DUI might even get you elected, as long as you're a Republican.
Embrace the suck
My cabin has been a wonderful "Leave me the fuck alone spot." I recommend you find something similar.
I finally quit drinking for good - now I drink for evil
I do not necessarily need a cabin. I just need to go back to my old ways. Before the pandemic, I used to work a full day, come home to enjoy a late afternoon run, sometimes alone and sometimes with local running friends, and make a quick post about it on Facebook. After that, though, I would take a shower, sit down in my living room, turn off all of the lights in my townhouse, and watch a movie from my big Blu-ray collection. I used to love how, after working hard and peopling all day long, I would turn out the lights, put in a movie, and, for the next two hours or so, the entire rest of the world could just go fuck itself.
These days, I spend too much time doomscrolling on Reuters, The Atlantic, and elsewhere, and then watching unscripted YouTube videos from the likes of Beau of the Fifth Column or The Young Turks.
It is healthy to be engaged in politics, but only to a certain extent and with limitations. I have found that my mental state and my worldview have become bleaker with the resultant unfocused use of my time.
Me too, Jason. This is like 2016 all over again. Every day I continue to be shocked and baffled as to how much shit that fucking orangutan gets away with. I'm so tired of hearing people bitch about Biden the same way they bitched about Hillary. FFS, Biden is NOT the one who sat on his ass watching the 1/6 insurrection while laughing and doing absolutely nothing. People died and police officers were assaulted, and that asshole doesn't care, yet people still want to vote for him because "I don't like Biden". You want to vote for someone who gives zero fucks for the citizens of this country? Really??? We all know the list goes on and on with the shit he's done, but let's vote for him anyway because gas prices are high. JFC. And you're right - I fear the future, because the young assholes of today will now think that they can be POTUS no matter what they do. This reminds me of a sad story from BITD. When I was working at the morgue and also at the LRS, a coworker at the LRS asked me about a case. It involved a young man in his 20s who killed himself. The man was a friend of my LRS coworker, and that coworker told me that his friend recently had a DUI. His friend was in college and wanted to get into some sort of political office in the future. After his DUI, he felt that his future career in politics was forever ruined, so he shot himself. A very drastic move, and very sad. But I get it - back then (I think this was around 2008) a DUI might have damaged you as a politician. These days you can fuck a porn star, grab pussy, incite insurrections, call military veterans "suckers and losers", try to overturn an election, violate gag orders, etc. and nothing will happen. These days a DUI might even get you elected, as long as you're a Republican.
Sometimes I wonder how much the Survivor television series contributed to the detriment of society.
When people in my generation were kids, we would watch television shows about heroic cops, about Cheers bartenders who were inherently kind-hearted people, about heroic MacGyver types, and such. With the advent of Survivor, kids watched shows about people doing whatever it takes to get ahead, aligning themselves with whoever would help them get ahead, dropping those others like a bad habit after they ceased to be of use, and then lying to keep from getting voted off the island. I watched Survivor at first, because I thought that it would be a cool show about wilderness survival, but was ultimately disappointed when I realized that it was just full of backstabbing politics that I could watch just by walking around my office building.
That story of your co-worker's friend is heartbreaking. It reminds me of my brother's stories about how there was a high suicide rate at the Naval Academy when he was there, because people felt that they had destroyed their lives irrevocably by failing a class. (My brother failed out of Naval Academy after just barely hanging in there for three years, but then graduated from a State university and is now working a six-figure salary job in computer security programming.)
I am a 52 year-old who is unmarried, who has a modest paycheck-to-paycheck income, and who drives a beat-up 2007 Toyota Tacoma with a check engine light that came on just today.
Incidentally, the check engine light turned itself back off when I was driving back home from a movie last night. I am still going to get the truck checked when I take it in for a routine checkup in a couple of weeks, because the fact that the light came on in the first place indicates that somewhere somehow something is askew, but maybe I can get by for a few more days until then.
Prince of Fatness
One of my many concerns about another Trump presidency is an increase in suicides due to shit like bullying, etc. Trump mocks anyone who is different (minority, gender, disability, gay, you name it). If he can do it and get away with it other people will think it’s ok.
Not at it at all.
Tribal Elder
We're already there. Social media, Twitter especially, is a fever swamp of cruelty. But you can always turn away from that. The worst is the use of legislative and judicial power to harm and harass anyone considered a member of an out-group.
"Keep doing things." - Jim Martin, 93 year-old paratrooper and badass.
Maybe it was a coincidence, but after the 2016 election, I had 3 incidents of unnecessary road rage. They all happened within a few days after the election, which I thought was strange. In one incident, I was driving to the gym. I put on my right blinker to indicate that I was about to turn into the parking lot of the gym. I slowed down, as most people do when they are making a right turn, and the douchebag behind me started aggressively honking his horn and flashing his lights at me. This guy was crazy pissed off that I was making a right turn. WTF?
Only a handful of days later, I had a similar incident. This time I was pulling into my own fucking garage. We're on a residential street, my garage door is slowly opening, and I start to turn into my garage when another douchebag comes speeding down the street behind me and starts honking aggressively because I'm simply trying to go home.
Not long after that, I was on the freeway going to work, already exceeding the speed limit by quite a bit, when yet another douchebag got right on my ass, flashed his lights, honked, and then proceeded to pass me while showing me his middle finger.
It could have been a coincidence, but it seemed to me that people were so excited to see their King of the Douchebags "take charge" and win the presidency. There seemed to be an attitude all around me of "if I want it, I take it, fuck you".
And here we are again.
Could be correlation and not causation, but after 2016 I became so obsessed with politics and the news that I needed to be medicated for anxiety. It was also the beginning of a sharp decline in my weekly running miles, which I'm sure exacerbated the problem, but it was pretty bad. I remember a genuine sense of relief when Trump left office. I really don't want to go back to that.
over-educated and under-loved
Proboscis Colossus
Group hug! C'mon, get in here, guys!
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
I remember a genuine sense of relief when Trump left office. I really don't want to go back to that.
Me too.
I want to believe that most Americans are good-hearted people. However, if trump wins the WH again I will know I'm way wrong.
The worst is the use of legislative and judicial power to harm and harass anyone considered a member of an out-group.
Like outlawing their use of public bathrooms.
Dave
I was just looking through the updates of Stormy Daniels' testimony during cross-examination. IMO, she did a great job staying out of the little traps Trump's lady was trying to catch her with, and shot back some zingers of her own. "So you've sold merchandise based on Mr. Trump's indictment, correct?" "In much the same way Mr. Trump has, yes."
It seems pretty fuzzy with regards to her motives...she just wanted to get the story out, but denied certain outlets because they wouldn't pay, but she went with the NDA because there would be a paper trail leading to Trump if something happened to her, but she had to move quickly because the election was coming up, etc.. Shouldn't matter, though...she's not on trial, and it's clear that she was paid by Trump, and the expense was fraudulently listed as "attorney's fees."
I do have the Cabin in the Woods. Well, a cabin in the woods in a small subdivision. I will glance at a news website now and then but I depend on you folks to tell me what is going on (sort of). I can not tell you one thing about Donald's trial except Stormy Daniels and hush money are involved. I don't watch ANY TV news. I realize the upcoming election affects me but I am not losing any sleep over it.