Beth your take is 100% right. I see this often when I travel and like Sarah said especially in National parks. These are very selfish risks that people are taking. I think it angers you so much because it says alot about where we are as a society. Where people feel that every experience is just about them and how they want to experience as opposed to those around them.
Right now, I am very mad and grossed out at the Democratic Party. For me, the No Kings protest fell flat for me. It was uninspiring. I do feel that the Democratic Party is slowly becoming a minority and I feel they have no one to blame but themselves for it. They keep doing the same things, saying the same talking point over and over and it’s not working. I feel they have abandoned the people that they claim that they care so much about. I am one of those people.
I’ve also noticed how hateful those in the Democratic Party have become. It’s a kind of hate that I never thought I would see in the party and it’s completely turning me off from the party.
The Republican Party, I don’t even recognize it anymore. The Republican Party identity is Trump. The Republican Party backed Trump when he was America First. Now, he has switched from America First to “I’m gonna worry about foreign policy now.” I’ve even noticed his supporters getting really upset at him. Maybe that will be the one thing that will shift the Republican Party way of governing, but I’m not holding my breath on that either.
I often think to myself we need another “Bill Clinton”. When I say “Bill Clinton”, I mean somebody who could bring the country together because I really felt he was that type of person who did that. I’m not talking so much about policies but I’m talking about personality. I think that is the only way that I will start to have hope in the Democratic Party leading again.
I was (sort of) joking with my husband the other day that I may not even vote this next election cycles. I used to mock people who didn’t vote, now I’ve become one of those and I completely get why so many don’t.
I’m really just hating everything now. I feel politically homeless.
The yoga mat on the glacier person, sigh. I’ve seen a lot of antics in National Parks but wow! I’m mad & sad about the East Wing of the White House & also the boats in the Caribbean (and now Pacific). I’m supposed to go to Paris next week after saving & planning for 2 years & now with the shutdown I’m really nervous about the flights. I don’t want to spend half my trip stranded in airports. I have to make a decision by Friday - deadline to cancel the hotel. This is nothing compared to what federal workers missing paychecks are facing (been there several times as the spouse of a fed employee) but it still matters to me. And I can’t afford to just blow that money if the trip falls apart. Ugh - this is nothing compared winning!
Ref: yoga social media influencer on the glacier…it’s really layered but I think the frustration of brazen disrespect of safety rules in public spaces is pretty justified because like Sarah articulated it puts everyone in danger. I’m not a yogi so I can’t speak to the filming part of that practice. But I get your frustration! Maybe it would be akin to a Bible study group setting up a camera for content?? Weird.
Also I’m Amazed at my conservative friends and family who wholesale support the what and the how of the ball room. “Obama did remodeling, who cares?” I can’t remember a time when so many republicans were so ok with so much unilateral government action … not to mention the sponsors 🤮
On foreign policy - back when I was serving, "US interests" was code for oil, coal, natural gas. And now that we need more rare earth minerals, I think we're shifting a bit towards that as well (and the shipping routes). I think it still tracks if you take even a little deep dive on Venezuela, Argentina, Greenland, Canada, Russia, the Panama canal.
USA talks a big game about humanitarian issues, drugs, wmd's, but war is really fueled by economics - the control of Natural Resource markets (especially energy) & trade routes.
Oh, and Trump's ginormous fragile ego. He's a classic covert/vulnerable narcissist. What scares me the most about Trump is how easily manipulated he is because of his narcissism. You just compliment him the right way and he agrees to drop bombs for you or fire someone. Or you try to set healthy boundaries and he punishes you with sanctions or a lawsuit.
Question on common ground pilgrimages - I think my mother in law would love these but she’s not able to walk far distances. How accessible are these? Do you have to walk a lot on them? She does have a scooter that she uses but it doesn’t work well on bumpy surfaces.
I just finished this episode (Shutdown and Teardown) and I will say it validated a lot of my feelings that I have been experiencing. For the outside of politics section Beth I feel your judgement. I am so curious to see if you get people that ask you to think about that yoga influencer on a glacier in a different way. I work for parks and I when I visit parks it boils my blood to watch people just do what they want all over protected resources. Watching people climb on 2,000 year old trees or stomp around fences is just so frustrating. Thank you for your discussion.
I haven’t finished listening to the episode yet, but wanted to touch on the tear down. It bothers me so much, because it feels so symbolic. Tearing down the women’s office where work is done in favor of a ballroom where women throw parties. This presidency will have permanent, lasting impacts in ways we can’t just move on from and this is a physical representation. And the pictures of both the huge, extravagant ball room paired with his golden Oval Office, while the people are going without paychecks & soon to be without healthcare or food for the poor. The optics alone are so bad. It’s giving “let them eat cake.” It just makes me really sad.
I think if all that feels available to embrace are elites, people might just decide to choose the elites that don’t call them things like stupid, vile, and evil.
I’m really struggling to not put on my tin-foil hat when I see the historical similarities between the White House Ballroom and Hitler’s plus the recent Argentina payment. 😳
I think you each noted in passing some reforms you would like to see in this episode ... Sarah mentioned uncapping the House, and Beth mentioned wishing we had more than two parties. There are a lot of reasons that our system rewards 2 and only 2 parties, and the reforms it would take to change that are tricky to shepherd through. How decentralized our voting system is helps protect us from literal hacking but it makes reforms really difficult, because it can end up feeling like unilateral disarmament, as we've seen with the gerrymandering rights in progress.
Would love to hear some episodes delving into these and other structural reforms. It feels to me like we have a long road of repair ahead of us, civically and politically, and I'd love a series thinking through what changes might make getting people of good intent into positions of power more possible. So often we're in a double bind in which those who have power to reform have incentives to keep things just as they are. I would love to have more parties, and to have the institutional power matter more than the party power, but I know there are a lot of barriers to seeing that happen. We're in a situation now where Congress is unable to provide its checks and balances against the executive, because it's dominated by the same party as the POTUS and unlike in the Nixon era, today's Rs are unwilling to hold their own President accountable to any standard other than whatever makes them win and makes their haters mad.
See also:
* SCOTUS reform (no more lifetime appointments? expanding the court? equalizing frequency and timing of new appointees?)
Comment on glacier yoga. Jogged my memory to last summer when we visited Mount Rushmore. I’d been before years ago as a kid. Hubby had not been. We found the experience moving and awe inspiring. There was a man in the viewing area selling books and items for performing yoga. I thought how strange to sell that material there? Performing yoga at a natural wonder is a thing? Now I know why, I guess? Wow
Now that I've finished episode....I have many words about folks plummeting to their deaths, but I probably should not leave them here, other than to confirm Sarah's opinion.
I have a theory that cameras on our phones have ruined us a little bit. In fact, I've started making very specific choices about where my phone/camera just stays down and I leave with nothing but memories. Influencers staging themselves in front of various backgrounds isn't just rude to those around them, but can actually threaten the safety of folks unwittingly caught in the lens. There's a certain sort of violation when someone uses a sacred moment or space for promoting themselves.
I’m really proud of my husband because he bought us whistles to keep on our keychains. We live somewhere where we haven’t had any ICE situations yet, but it’s definitely a possibility. I am looking for hope in small actions of agency. Also, when it comes to redistricting, this Californian would be open to hearing anyone’s advice for handling Prop 50 😵💫
Beth your take is 100% right. I see this often when I travel and like Sarah said especially in National parks. These are very selfish risks that people are taking. I think it angers you so much because it says alot about where we are as a society. Where people feel that every experience is just about them and how they want to experience as opposed to those around them.
I’m catching up on Friday’s episode this morning.
Right now, I am very mad and grossed out at the Democratic Party. For me, the No Kings protest fell flat for me. It was uninspiring. I do feel that the Democratic Party is slowly becoming a minority and I feel they have no one to blame but themselves for it. They keep doing the same things, saying the same talking point over and over and it’s not working. I feel they have abandoned the people that they claim that they care so much about. I am one of those people.
I’ve also noticed how hateful those in the Democratic Party have become. It’s a kind of hate that I never thought I would see in the party and it’s completely turning me off from the party.
The Republican Party, I don’t even recognize it anymore. The Republican Party identity is Trump. The Republican Party backed Trump when he was America First. Now, he has switched from America First to “I’m gonna worry about foreign policy now.” I’ve even noticed his supporters getting really upset at him. Maybe that will be the one thing that will shift the Republican Party way of governing, but I’m not holding my breath on that either.
I often think to myself we need another “Bill Clinton”. When I say “Bill Clinton”, I mean somebody who could bring the country together because I really felt he was that type of person who did that. I’m not talking so much about policies but I’m talking about personality. I think that is the only way that I will start to have hope in the Democratic Party leading again.
I was (sort of) joking with my husband the other day that I may not even vote this next election cycles. I used to mock people who didn’t vote, now I’ve become one of those and I completely get why so many don’t.
I’m really just hating everything now. I feel politically homeless.
The yoga mat on the glacier person, sigh. I’ve seen a lot of antics in National Parks but wow! I’m mad & sad about the East Wing of the White House & also the boats in the Caribbean (and now Pacific). I’m supposed to go to Paris next week after saving & planning for 2 years & now with the shutdown I’m really nervous about the flights. I don’t want to spend half my trip stranded in airports. I have to make a decision by Friday - deadline to cancel the hotel. This is nothing compared to what federal workers missing paychecks are facing (been there several times as the spouse of a fed employee) but it still matters to me. And I can’t afford to just blow that money if the trip falls apart. Ugh - this is nothing compared winning!
Ref: yoga social media influencer on the glacier…it’s really layered but I think the frustration of brazen disrespect of safety rules in public spaces is pretty justified because like Sarah articulated it puts everyone in danger. I’m not a yogi so I can’t speak to the filming part of that practice. But I get your frustration! Maybe it would be akin to a Bible study group setting up a camera for content?? Weird.
Also I’m Amazed at my conservative friends and family who wholesale support the what and the how of the ball room. “Obama did remodeling, who cares?” I can’t remember a time when so many republicans were so ok with so much unilateral government action … not to mention the sponsors 🤮
On foreign policy - back when I was serving, "US interests" was code for oil, coal, natural gas. And now that we need more rare earth minerals, I think we're shifting a bit towards that as well (and the shipping routes). I think it still tracks if you take even a little deep dive on Venezuela, Argentina, Greenland, Canada, Russia, the Panama canal.
USA talks a big game about humanitarian issues, drugs, wmd's, but war is really fueled by economics - the control of Natural Resource markets (especially energy) & trade routes.
Oh, and Trump's ginormous fragile ego. He's a classic covert/vulnerable narcissist. What scares me the most about Trump is how easily manipulated he is because of his narcissism. You just compliment him the right way and he agrees to drop bombs for you or fire someone. Or you try to set healthy boundaries and he punishes you with sanctions or a lawsuit.
Question on common ground pilgrimages - I think my mother in law would love these but she’s not able to walk far distances. How accessible are these? Do you have to walk a lot on them? She does have a scooter that she uses but it doesn’t work well on bumpy surfaces.
I do not know the answer to that - do you mind if I connect you to their team over email?
Yes please!
I just finished this episode (Shutdown and Teardown) and I will say it validated a lot of my feelings that I have been experiencing. For the outside of politics section Beth I feel your judgement. I am so curious to see if you get people that ask you to think about that yoga influencer on a glacier in a different way. I work for parks and I when I visit parks it boils my blood to watch people just do what they want all over protected resources. Watching people climb on 2,000 year old trees or stomp around fences is just so frustrating. Thank you for your discussion.
I used so many of your words in my email to my Congressman today. Continually grateful for the work you do.
I haven’t finished listening to the episode yet, but wanted to touch on the tear down. It bothers me so much, because it feels so symbolic. Tearing down the women’s office where work is done in favor of a ballroom where women throw parties. This presidency will have permanent, lasting impacts in ways we can’t just move on from and this is a physical representation. And the pictures of both the huge, extravagant ball room paired with his golden Oval Office, while the people are going without paychecks & soon to be without healthcare or food for the poor. The optics alone are so bad. It’s giving “let them eat cake.” It just makes me really sad.
I think if all that feels available to embrace are elites, people might just decide to choose the elites that don’t call them things like stupid, vile, and evil.
I’m really struggling to not put on my tin-foil hat when I see the historical similarities between the White House Ballroom and Hitler’s plus the recent Argentina payment. 😳
I think you each noted in passing some reforms you would like to see in this episode ... Sarah mentioned uncapping the House, and Beth mentioned wishing we had more than two parties. There are a lot of reasons that our system rewards 2 and only 2 parties, and the reforms it would take to change that are tricky to shepherd through. How decentralized our voting system is helps protect us from literal hacking but it makes reforms really difficult, because it can end up feeling like unilateral disarmament, as we've seen with the gerrymandering rights in progress.
Would love to hear some episodes delving into these and other structural reforms. It feels to me like we have a long road of repair ahead of us, civically and politically, and I'd love a series thinking through what changes might make getting people of good intent into positions of power more possible. So often we're in a double bind in which those who have power to reform have incentives to keep things just as they are. I would love to have more parties, and to have the institutional power matter more than the party power, but I know there are a lot of barriers to seeing that happen. We're in a situation now where Congress is unable to provide its checks and balances against the executive, because it's dominated by the same party as the POTUS and unlike in the Nixon era, today's Rs are unwilling to hold their own President accountable to any standard other than whatever makes them win and makes their haters mad.
See also:
* SCOTUS reform (no more lifetime appointments? expanding the court? equalizing frequency and timing of new appointees?)
* Rank choice voting
* Multi-member districts
* Non Partisan Redistricting
etc etc etc
Comment on glacier yoga. Jogged my memory to last summer when we visited Mount Rushmore. I’d been before years ago as a kid. Hubby had not been. We found the experience moving and awe inspiring. There was a man in the viewing area selling books and items for performing yoga. I thought how strange to sell that material there? Performing yoga at a natural wonder is a thing? Now I know why, I guess? Wow
Now that I've finished episode....I have many words about folks plummeting to their deaths, but I probably should not leave them here, other than to confirm Sarah's opinion.
I have a theory that cameras on our phones have ruined us a little bit. In fact, I've started making very specific choices about where my phone/camera just stays down and I leave with nothing but memories. Influencers staging themselves in front of various backgrounds isn't just rude to those around them, but can actually threaten the safety of folks unwittingly caught in the lens. There's a certain sort of violation when someone uses a sacred moment or space for promoting themselves.
I’m really proud of my husband because he bought us whistles to keep on our keychains. We live somewhere where we haven’t had any ICE situations yet, but it’s definitely a possibility. I am looking for hope in small actions of agency. Also, when it comes to redistricting, this Californian would be open to hearing anyone’s advice for handling Prop 50 😵💫
We (mostly Flannery) are organizing whistles in the Minneapolis area, based on the Chicago experience. Hit us up if you want more info.
I do!