Some of us old people have been organizing and marching for change, against war, against climate destruction, against the pollution of oceans for years and years. I am now 78 and started demonstrating against Vietnam when I was 20. I have objected to every war since then and so have many other people my age. Even people in these comments. It has always been the elite, the ones who took it upon themselves to rule us, who have declared the wars, taken away the healthcare, started the foodbanks rather than give a basic minimum wage. We can only hope that the young people of today have not bought into the idea that big is best, rich is success, war will save us. AND I have a son who has often told his friends that I am way more radical than he is. So don't go blaming this mess on the entire older generation and don't naively put your hopes on a group of young people who have been brought up with privilege and sometimes entitlement.
From a demographic perspective, boomers absolutely deserve the flak they get.
But I will always say that the ones who were actually activists in 60s... Well some of them sold out, you can't deny that... But those who didn't sell out are still marching and organising and mutual-aiding at our sides. They're our revered elders, and I mean literally revered.
But it's funny... When I bring up my lifelong track record (Gen X here) of being antiwar and an activist to remind people that we have always existed, always been fighting... I have a very different tone than you demonstrate. For example, I don't feel a need to parade my activist CV. And I would never DREAM of saying something like "We can only hope that the young people of today have not bought into the idea that big is best, rich is success, war will save us." That's so condescending, man. Me, I'm literally cheering on young people and doing everything I can to have their backs, because I know them, I see them, I literally learn from them every day.
If you haven't tuned me out yet... A risk I'm willing to take...
I didn't set out to be so critical. But it happened, as I went back and reread your words. I'm not taking it back and I'm not changing my tone. I think my words need to stand. I really don't think you meant to come off the way I read you. But younger people are very sensitive to even a scent of boomer arrogance and with good reason. This was more a comradely criticism than an attack. Maybe take this moment to listen to younger people, and to have our backs, rather than criticise us.
I was replying to Caitlin's post which was a bit ridiculous, I thought. Because I have remained an activist, I have, of course met many young people who are involved in trying to get rid of racism, nazism, etc. But I have also observed and talked with a lot of young people, as well as people my age and all ages in between who do not seem to be aware of what is happening in the world or why. I am sorry to have come off sounding as if I am opposing young people. I found this statement to be particularly offensive "Everything we older generations have done has taken our world to the brink of environmental collapse and nuclear brinkmanship". Many of us have worked really hard to try to turn around the use of nuclear anything and to raise awareness of the environment. I KNOW there are a lot of young people who are also working for these issues. But certainly not ALL, not any more than ALL of the older generation have just let it happen.
I didn't feel Caitlin's words were ridiculous at all. They hit me as completely true and completely justified. And note that I opened my comment with the words "From a demographic perspective." I did that for a reason. I shouldn't have to explain that reason, explain what "demographic perspective" means, or defend it. It's just factually true.
Speaking as Gen X, I've watched at least half my peers turn into horrible reactionaries (often liberal fascists, sometimes full on fascists). They're often WORSE than the worst stereotypes of boomers. And their schtick usually involves shitting on younger people, on millennials and Gen Z. I'm deeply ashamed of that segment of my generation and I call them out all the time.
So I fully appreciate what it's like to look around see people with their heads in the sand, or worse. And that's also why I'm very sensitive to people shitting on young people: years of fighting my peers who do it.
I said everything I said and I don't take it back. But thank you responding authentically and in good faith. I really mean that, it's appreciated. There's more I could say, but I'm not gonna. I'm more interested in building solidarity than being a debate bro.
It's ridiculous to claim that using "pronouns" and enabling the pharmaceutical industry to profit from turning confused young people into lifelong medical patients is "rewriting the rules" of empire.
I don't think Caitlin's words are ridiculous. She is not setting up one generation against the other. She is talking about cause and effect. What one generation did or didn't do will naturally affect the next. This is the law of cause and effect - it is not fate. Change the cause and the effect will change.
How else will a revolution happen? The Russian intelligentsia together with the peasantry changed the cause of events ( the grip of power, privilege and domination by the Czars ) resulting in the October Revolution.
Reply to Indu: "When I look at this awful trainwreck of a world we’re leaving to younger generations it infuriates me that older generations are constantly bitching at them." The post was fine before this. After this, it gets ridiculous. She seems to assume that all older people have done nothing to prevent this "trainwreck of a world" and she seems to think that everyone is always bitching at their kids. Well, some are, some aren't. When some people get really rich they appear to think that entitles them to start wars, stop bothering about alleviating poverty, shit all over their employees etc. Many of those rich people are not all that old. It is ridiculous to blame the mess in the world on people based on their age. Now if we were talking about one of those CEOs (age unknown) who had made in a few hours what it takes most people at least a year to earn, then I could see her point.
I’m FAR more of an activist than my 40-something daughter. I thought I’d taught her better than that. But much to my disappointment, she’s pretty self-involved; job, family, vacations, etc.
I’m proud of her in many ways but not in this respect.
Caitlin is taking self responsibility, albeit in a collective sense. You are still in a victim/victimizer mentality, which is one grade lower than self responsible.
I wouldnt say the entire post was ridiculous, but the part about blaming only older people is wrong. Far too many younger people have zero critic thinking, zero ideas of their own, and zero interest in having any. All they want to do is get along with the digital crowd, which if course is being completely puppeted by nasty extremist oligarchs like Peter Thiel, Bezos etc.
I think you took it personally because you still identify with "generations". Which is in itself an old generation concept, that humans are divided into identity tribes based upon gender, age, class, money, race, eye color, iq, etc.
I am not sure what you mean that I "identify" with "generations". I didn't take
Caitlin's post particularly personally. If I were 25, I think I would still find the post divisive and non productive. Maybe. When I was younger I had a different view of aging. I don't think people can be put into categories solely because of their age.
EXACTLY - shows their paid PSY-OPDs are working, and like these Sociopaths and Psychopaths' - they do not face and take responsibility for their actions.
Like little children NOT caught out, "THEY" think they are being so clever "fooling Mummy & Daddy", and making M & Daddy part of their "game" and manipulating and CONROLLING M & Daddy.
STOP playing their game and be mature Adults, NOT GEN X or Millennium's or whatever stupid classification's some apply following the mantras of the day, but do BE thoughtfully PROACTIVE and as a human being, Community/communities, meld together and put time to excellent use.
My empathy understands why Caitlin has ranted somewhat in this email, she is dealing with these areas of mental and spiritual dysfunction everyday-the imbalances etc., but Caitlin do acknowledge that there are many human begins over centuries' who "fight the good fight" ALL their life.
Many raised with Religion being a solid part of our childhoods, which further blinds people to the evil within other human beings. I think this is WHY many Americans' are always preaching at others as though that is all that is required?
NO, God is testing us ALL to be practical and STOP the desecration of ALL the wonders of life and the fruitful World we have been given.
Zionism != Jew. They are 2 entities that intersect - with mostly Israel representing that intersection.
If we get mathematical and start doing set theory, there are many other intersections and unions going on.
Here are some of the the entities - Jews, Israelis, Zionism, Christians.
Now take the intersections and unions and complements of the above entities and you will arrive at a much more nuanced perspective of all the relationships.
But people love simplifying relationships - they love reducing the complexities and nuances of the real world in order to be able to relate to certain viewpoints.
These trigger reactions are actually signs that they habor internal trauma/guilt. THey did something to someone they don't want to talk or someone did something to them that they don't want to talk about.
I'll repeat how I opened my comment: "From a demographic perspective."
The concentrated wealth and privilege enjoyed by boomers, demographically speaking, is a hard fact. A hard economic fact which is reflected culturally and politically.
I will not debate this issue with you or give a fucking inch on it. We're done here. Have a great weekend.
If the establishment is good at nothing else, it has shown that it is very good at determining who can be bought off and who can be co-opted.
This is how fire-eating Sixties radicals were neutered into mild-mannered academics babbling about "change within the system". For that matter, this is how civil rights leaders, people who had done genuinely heroic things at one time, ended up becoming garden variety machine politicians.
Exactly. People live their lives in bubbles of propaganda on facebook,Tiktok etc. They buy into the radical capitalist dystopia of Uber, AirBnB and they rest. They then all join in the privatization of the commons and of public resources, even down to the sidewalks, which they use as parking for private fake-“shared” mini motorbikes which they are renting from by venture capital companies who dont want to obey basic laws of order and dont want to pay on private land or buildings for parking their rental equipment.
These people dont think at all, they give approval to every shitty shiny thing pitched at them that is really meant to destroy them. And then they wonder why things are going wrong.
Definitely not an age issue. It’s a mass sleeping-wide-awake issue.
and everyone, young and old is into social media and staring at their phones while they are on the bus, walking down the street, at home......everywhere. I have looked over the shoulders of people on the bus scrolling through their phones and all they are looking at is ads. But they are totally engrossed in it. It is sad and a bit scary.
could be. I don't have data on my phone just so I won't be on it so much. I do read the news online now though, whereas previously I bought a newspaper and read it. Online news has better, maybe more honest reporting than paper these days
Socialism always breeds it's own Entitlement mentality. I too am antiWar since Vietnam, a democRat sponsored war. Then the rinoRat Bushies gave us the 20 Years Wars. Then Clintoons and Obamaites gave us ChiCom Corrupt Cesspool Equity USSA
Me too, Susan. I'm now 83 and I can remember all the street-protests from the mid 50s on. I don't actually go to anywhere near as many these days, but I'm always sending off my signature on online protests.
And I certainly showed up for the Voice referendum - for all the good that did.
I remember trying to hand out how to vote YES slips and suddenly finding myself in a ding-dong battle with a man who'd just voted NO and wanted to tell me why.
My greyhound and I walked home in the rain after that encounter, with my tears mingling with the raindrops running down my cheeks - a hugely sad day, followed by an even more hugely sad evening.
It was almost enough to make me swear off going to street protests altogether - ALMOST!
I also feel really sad that my grandchildren will have such a shitty world to grow up in. I don't feel ashamed though or at fault. I know I have done as much as I could to change this situation. I just feel sad a lot.
Neither of my two children had kids, and I used to regret not having grandchildren.
But I can't help thinking nowadays that being a great-grand-stepmother to one young girl, & a grandaunt and a great-grandaunt to my three siblings' respective broods is enough to feel sad for. :-)
Same here Susan. My brother attended university in Ann Arbor, that bastion for liberalism, in the late ‘60’s/early 70’s. I learned as a teenager there what it was like to protest and have been doing so ever since. I’m 69 years old.
I am 75 and have protested every war. You have clearly misread what Caitlin said. If you are not guilty, fine. But 99% of Boomers like us are. If you don't want to be damned then don't disparage the young.
I think we need a society with rotating leadership. The reason our present leaders are so corrupt is because they have promoted the idea that their way of thinking and doing things is the best way. They get away with this in part because most of society sees having vast amounts of money as a positive rather than the negative that it is. If leaders could only lead for 6 months and had to carry on from previous leaders, it does have some potential to work better than what we have. I think it would not work to have a totally leaderless society. Maybe smaller groups that made their own decisions, then liaised with other small groups.
The older generation marched as activists when they were younger - WW1, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Korean War, Great Depression, unionization, etc.
The younger generation is marching now - Iraq, climate change, occupy wall street, Israel-Palestine, Yemen, BLM, etc.
It is the "younger people" of all generations (regardless of which generation it is) that are the "physical" activists. As these younger people grow older, they transform their activism in different ways.
Every generation keeps thinking that they marched more, rebelled more, protested more than future generations. Maybe your parents might feel that their generation was more active. Maybe the current "young" generation might feel one day when they grow older that their generation was more active than their future generation.
It's all a relative perspective.
The older generation thinks the present generation has been "dumbed down". (I agree BTW). My parent's generation probably thinks that my generation has been "dumbed down". I'm sure that when the TV came out, or computer video games, or whatever other technology - older generations thought the younger generation was "dumbed down" by the "new technology" of their children's generation. I'm sure that the present generation will think that the generation of their kids will have been "dumbed down" by whatever future technology (eg. AI, virtual reality, or bio-technology, etc.) comes about.
Unfortunately, I am ashamed to admit that I was too naive most of my life to even realize what was going on or to perceive and realize the forces of manipulation all around me.
Also, very few people have the courage to reproach their parents - even when they know that their parents are responsible for something morally wrong or corrupt. I do reproach my parents now - and that has led to the straining of bonds - but my conscience won't let me stay silent or be censored.
There have been many young people marching for Palestine. Also, I have been in many demos in the past years where young and old marched against various issues such as PEGIDA coming to Canada, police violence, the war in Iraq........
Yes the problem is they pretend they are not oligarchs and no one asks any questions. I was listening to a podcast with Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech oligarch, who is behind a zillion large companies like Facebook, Paypal, Palantir, AirBnB etc, and this guy kept asking about “the elite” being other people - professors, journalists teachers, but no not billionaires like him. Kept talking about himself as an ordinary guy and ranting about the market that will save us all. He was completely delusional about his status as an oligarch. And the host of the podcast was gutless and did not challenge him at all.
I mean how does someone like this even manage to hide that he is an oligarch and no one challenges his lie.
It was about this time that a large number of Psychiatric/mental hospitals were closed permanently, and community rules started to loosen, now Society MUST learn about Sociopathy and Psychopathy etc, and indeed take responsibility and deal with these negatives' forces in our World.
It does appear tp have become such a graveyard, DrWho.
Netanyahu totally rejects Palestine as a state. Against which we have the State of Palestine having been accepted as an observer state of the United Nations General Assembly in November 2012. As of 2 June 2023, 139 of the 193 United Nations (UN) member states have recognized the State of Palestine.
Now what does that mean, really. It means 139 countries favour Palestine as a state........... .....that was in 2012. Since then Israel has poured billions (donated by the US government) into securing support for all its dirty deeds, having owned every President since Johnson and almost every politician in the USA and has certainly been able to bring enough pressure (graft) to bear on most Western European states including Germany, all the White / Anglo / Christians and the 5-Eyes military compatriots (always itching for a war or two) like Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the UK.
BUT, please DO NOT DO A COUNT ON THE SAME RESULT TODAY. The local Zionist chapters in all countries have used their influence to graft further concessions from governments everywhere. It’s the way they work. Look at British Labor, running neck and neck with the Conservatived in the Israeli-grovelling stakes.
Australia the same, as are both Canada and New Zealand. And don't the Zionists love it. “We own the US" said Ariel Sharon. What he didn’t say was 'we own the rest of those weak Western countries as well', and they do.
So where to from here, one has to ask? What about the UN? Currently run by the US Veto. Now does that mean it is now also going to be controlled by Israel (also with a newly polished Veto as well) as they will not accept Palestine under any circumstances, so they say. You know, "the river to the sea" has been around as Israeli doctrine well before Netanyahu has his first plate of Matzoh Ball Soup when they first started to kill the British in 1945 and on, 745 British casualties listed in that time being the casualties for absolute British stupidity
Did those British learn anything from that? Yes, give it all to the Jews and 'let’s get rid of this Jewish problem’, skip all the drama and let’s go home….and they did.
The cause of all the trouble in the Middle East as Israel's grand "Eretz Israel" plan travels into parts of Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Palestine ( already done by US backed genocide), Saudi, Egypt and Jordan backed up by 400 nuclear weapons and, it goes without saying, with the now very pathetic and now totally unrespected US watching Israel's back. A unlimited partner in their crimes
who would have thought that? Well quite a few of us old folks to start. Oh wait, it is the young ones who are going to save us. Forgot. Getting old, you know. Those that are now old started all this when they were young. If we ever hope to get out of this mess, we cannot be setting up people against each other. We all have to work together in this.
Completely agree with you. We are all constantly being gaslighted and propagandized by narratives that keep us subservient to the oligarchy. One day the narrative is "Jews are responsible for everything". Another day the narrative is "you are where you are in life because you are lazy, stupid, etc.".
The oligarchy (I call them the power elite) have so many narratives that they use to brainwash people so that the status quo can be maintained. The challenge is to break through all these narratives.
mostly I find Caitlin's writing to be right on, but this one I found to be not well thought out and really, kind of silly. Blaming the older generation for this mess makes no sense and also inhibits the potential for younger people to learn from older ones.
As a boomer and life long radical activist the struggle should not be seen as generational or about the failures of the older generations. Every generation has failed in its mission to fundamentally change society including that of our parents and our own. It’s a hard mountain to move. But we need to recognize that youth and elders should have a collaborative relationship and both can contribute. Elders can benefit from the fresh ideas and energy of the youth, and the youth can learn from the history and experience of the elders who led struggles in past decades, especially during more radical and hopeful times than now. And yes, I will criticize where I disagree regardless of how old you are.
Well said Ann. All these ways to divide people (as if they didn't already have enough ways) as X, Y, Z, millennial or boomer are just more of the same. Divide and rule.
well, you can't delete my comment, only your own. In my opinion, it is capitalism and the ensuing greed that has caused most of the world's problems. And people of all ages participate in capitalism. BUT it is those who have enough money to convince enough people to elect them who get into power and then struggle to hang onto that power by creating more wars, more poverty and encouraging consumption which is smothering (quite literally) our world. They make money from the wars, push questionable "solutions" to our environmental and climate problems (old and young alike do this). What they have in common is that they are money grubbers aka capitalists who will stop at very little to get more money into their bank accounts. Check out Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and others.....
While I agree with the gist of what you are saying and I myself am a militant Anti-Capitalist, I wonder if the root of all these problems is more than just the "system of Capitalism".
I mean, greed is universal - with or without Capitalism (as borne out from history). And if Capitalism were somehow eradicated, wouldn't we still have lots of problems? (I surmise this from looking at humanity's historical record).
Yes, I do agree with you and believe that "Capitalism" has arguably been the WORST system that we have come up with - one that has done more damage than any other system in human history (IMHO).
perhaps. I think maybe capitalism came about because of the greed of some people to have more power. It would be interesting if we could figure out why people even need or want to have that much power. Something in their childhood? something more general in our whole society?. there is so much beauty in the natural world, I don't really understand why people want more more more of everything else all the time. Is it how we are educated?
Unfortunately some of those young are being groomed as we speak to be the new empire managers. Most of the young are alright, but it only takes a few of them to pick up the levers and keep the rotten machine going.
"Israel apologists would have you believe there’s been a sudden worldwide emergence of “Hamas supporters” everywhere rather than a normal and entirely predictable worldwide opposition to genocide."
This. And it gives me hope that there is a growing opposition to genocide. As Caitlin says, "Israel has lost the argument... Time for something new." Hmmm new? How about we never allow this sort of tragedy to happen again?
"....never allow this sort of tragedy to happen again?" They said that in 1945. It was a great idea then and it's a great idea now, but how do you do that without regulating the whole population into a (metaphorical) prison?
Right you are. The Global South and BRICS countries are showing they've had enough of the Western/NATO bullying and they're holding Israhel accountable for their war crimes... Mexico and Chile have filed a case at the ICC to try Netanyahu for war crimes. About time!
maybe it might be better to stop regulating people so much. Of course, we cannot accept murderers, rapists etc. but there are a lot of regulations that are just there to make things easier for those with money and power.
I don't see how the young are going to so-called claw their way out of the madness their predecessors left them in and create a healthy world if all they do is play with iphones, eat fast food, ignore books, scorn their more-educated elders, and swallow the propaganda of the corporate elites.
I don't think anyone has been portraying the young as "clueless". The intense use of social media and watching cell phones absolutely everywhere is not limited to the young. I am not on any social media except for this substack and I am glad because reading these articles and comments takes up more of my time than I would like. But then, right now, this genocide is Gaza is taking up more of my time than I would like and it is good to be able to see how others are reacting, so I will keep reading the articles here.
I wish more people weened themselves off from social media. Granted, there are benefits to it, but also many harms. Humanity survived for thousands of years without social media.
I'm not happy that the university was bombed, so don't get me wrong. But since it was bombed, I hope at least it fell neatly into its own footprint. Like building seven. Now, what could the two possibly have in common...
‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 104: Israel’s unrelenting assault continues – ‘If we’re not killed by bombs, we die from the cold, starvation, or disease’
As Palestinians in Gaza continue to be starved and bombed by Israel, the U.S. has designated Yemen's Ansar Allah group as terrorists in hopes of intimidating their resistance against Israel's ongoing aggression.
I fear the youth are bludgeoned by a very intense and sophisticated brain washing mind control system perception steering campaign they have been exposed to through their devices from birth...
All social media corporations are tottaly down with the censorship and algorythums designed to present only the status quo narratives and burry alternative real thought ideas and jurnaliamthat deviates from this "norm" deep down in results or simply block and delete.
Its very incidious how it's done too..
Even google the number one search engine is in on it and search results are curated to show a very slanted and one sided results that supports the establishment ,,, and still they are looking the PR war.
You can only lie and con people so far before they start sniffing it out and becoming suspicious but that is only for people who have any sense of integrity or intellectual courage to look past the wall of bull shit we are fed 24/7.
I wish I had more faith in the youth but I'm not so sure they are not falling for it too when all their parents have.
The only merit Capitalism could leave to humanity is to fail destroying the planet so that Socialism is eventually embraced by all the peoples of the world and stop the fascists who’ve been controlling the west for decades.
Fascism is not limited to just Capitalism. There have also been Socialist and Communist regimes that have demonstrated fascism. But yes, moving away from Capitalism is a good first step, but I am doubtful that Socialism (of which there are dozens of varieties) on its own would be the elixir to solve all our problems - I am doubtful that it is the panacea that everyone claims it to be.
How about a hybrid system that combines the best parts of these different ideologies - Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, resource-based economies, etc. with the achievements in technological progress to come up with a better system for humans and the planet?
Now we just need a bunch of geniuses to figure it all out (with feedback from the rest of humanity of course)
I don't know how you keep doing it Caitlin. Every paragraph is a gem. Should I ever find myself in your company (not likely, I mean Melbourne, seriously?), I must on no account, ever resemble a nail.
Responding to another post I spelled Caitlin with a habitual K (that I won't do again). Her piece today was extraordinary, encompassing many of the things and expressing the truths that need to be said over and over to and about the older folks running world, national and local affairs these days. I tried for decades and am left saying the same apologies over and over to my two sons now in their fifties and those near and dear to them. I feel so very, very sorry.
George Carlin - another one of my heroes. He has such a poignant and articulate way of using humor to lay bare the contradictions and absurdities of our political systems, belief systems, and human nature.
Some of us old people have been organizing and marching for change, against war, against climate destruction, against the pollution of oceans for years and years. I am now 78 and started demonstrating against Vietnam when I was 20. I have objected to every war since then and so have many other people my age. Even people in these comments. It has always been the elite, the ones who took it upon themselves to rule us, who have declared the wars, taken away the healthcare, started the foodbanks rather than give a basic minimum wage. We can only hope that the young people of today have not bought into the idea that big is best, rich is success, war will save us. AND I have a son who has often told his friends that I am way more radical than he is. So don't go blaming this mess on the entire older generation and don't naively put your hopes on a group of young people who have been brought up with privilege and sometimes entitlement.
From a demographic perspective, boomers absolutely deserve the flak they get.
But I will always say that the ones who were actually activists in 60s... Well some of them sold out, you can't deny that... But those who didn't sell out are still marching and organising and mutual-aiding at our sides. They're our revered elders, and I mean literally revered.
But it's funny... When I bring up my lifelong track record (Gen X here) of being antiwar and an activist to remind people that we have always existed, always been fighting... I have a very different tone than you demonstrate. For example, I don't feel a need to parade my activist CV. And I would never DREAM of saying something like "We can only hope that the young people of today have not bought into the idea that big is best, rich is success, war will save us." That's so condescending, man. Me, I'm literally cheering on young people and doing everything I can to have their backs, because I know them, I see them, I literally learn from them every day.
If you haven't tuned me out yet... A risk I'm willing to take...
I didn't set out to be so critical. But it happened, as I went back and reread your words. I'm not taking it back and I'm not changing my tone. I think my words need to stand. I really don't think you meant to come off the way I read you. But younger people are very sensitive to even a scent of boomer arrogance and with good reason. This was more a comradely criticism than an attack. Maybe take this moment to listen to younger people, and to have our backs, rather than criticise us.
I was replying to Caitlin's post which was a bit ridiculous, I thought. Because I have remained an activist, I have, of course met many young people who are involved in trying to get rid of racism, nazism, etc. But I have also observed and talked with a lot of young people, as well as people my age and all ages in between who do not seem to be aware of what is happening in the world or why. I am sorry to have come off sounding as if I am opposing young people. I found this statement to be particularly offensive "Everything we older generations have done has taken our world to the brink of environmental collapse and nuclear brinkmanship". Many of us have worked really hard to try to turn around the use of nuclear anything and to raise awareness of the environment. I KNOW there are a lot of young people who are also working for these issues. But certainly not ALL, not any more than ALL of the older generation have just let it happen.
I didn't feel Caitlin's words were ridiculous at all. They hit me as completely true and completely justified. And note that I opened my comment with the words "From a demographic perspective." I did that for a reason. I shouldn't have to explain that reason, explain what "demographic perspective" means, or defend it. It's just factually true.
Speaking as Gen X, I've watched at least half my peers turn into horrible reactionaries (often liberal fascists, sometimes full on fascists). They're often WORSE than the worst stereotypes of boomers. And their schtick usually involves shitting on younger people, on millennials and Gen Z. I'm deeply ashamed of that segment of my generation and I call them out all the time.
So I fully appreciate what it's like to look around see people with their heads in the sand, or worse. And that's also why I'm very sensitive to people shitting on young people: years of fighting my peers who do it.
I said everything I said and I don't take it back. But thank you responding authentically and in good faith. I really mean that, it's appreciated. There's more I could say, but I'm not gonna. I'm more interested in building solidarity than being a debate bro.
I sincerely hope you manage to be successful in building solidarity.
I'm 80 and I wish you well!
It's ridiculous to claim that using "pronouns" and enabling the pharmaceutical industry to profit from turning confused young people into lifelong medical patients is "rewriting the rules" of empire.
who said it was?
Hello friends,
I don't think Caitlin's words are ridiculous. She is not setting up one generation against the other. She is talking about cause and effect. What one generation did or didn't do will naturally affect the next. This is the law of cause and effect - it is not fate. Change the cause and the effect will change.
How else will a revolution happen? The Russian intelligentsia together with the peasantry changed the cause of events ( the grip of power, privilege and domination by the Czars ) resulting in the October Revolution.
This is also what Che did.
Reply to Indu: "When I look at this awful trainwreck of a world we’re leaving to younger generations it infuriates me that older generations are constantly bitching at them." The post was fine before this. After this, it gets ridiculous. She seems to assume that all older people have done nothing to prevent this "trainwreck of a world" and she seems to think that everyone is always bitching at their kids. Well, some are, some aren't. When some people get really rich they appear to think that entitles them to start wars, stop bothering about alleviating poverty, shit all over their employees etc. Many of those rich people are not all that old. It is ridiculous to blame the mess in the world on people based on their age. Now if we were talking about one of those CEOs (age unknown) who had made in a few hours what it takes most people at least a year to earn, then I could see her point.
Hi Che
I’m FAR more of an activist than my 40-something daughter. I thought I’d taught her better than that. But much to my disappointment, she’s pretty self-involved; job, family, vacations, etc.
I’m proud of her in many ways but not in this respect.
Caitlin is taking self responsibility, albeit in a collective sense. You are still in a victim/victimizer mentality, which is one grade lower than self responsible.
Then why don't you take some self responsibility and find out how they are doing it.
I wouldnt say the entire post was ridiculous, but the part about blaming only older people is wrong. Far too many younger people have zero critic thinking, zero ideas of their own, and zero interest in having any. All they want to do is get along with the digital crowd, which if course is being completely puppeted by nasty extremist oligarchs like Peter Thiel, Bezos etc.
I think you took it personally because you still identify with "generations". Which is in itself an old generation concept, that humans are divided into identity tribes based upon gender, age, class, money, race, eye color, iq, etc.
I am not sure what you mean that I "identify" with "generations". I didn't take
Caitlin's post particularly personally. If I were 25, I think I would still find the post divisive and non productive. Maybe. When I was younger I had a different view of aging. I don't think people can be put into categories solely because of their age.
Thank you.
EXACTLY - shows their paid PSY-OPDs are working, and like these Sociopaths and Psychopaths' - they do not face and take responsibility for their actions.
Like little children NOT caught out, "THEY" think they are being so clever "fooling Mummy & Daddy", and making M & Daddy part of their "game" and manipulating and CONROLLING M & Daddy.
STOP playing their game and be mature Adults, NOT GEN X or Millennium's or whatever stupid classification's some apply following the mantras of the day, but do BE thoughtfully PROACTIVE and as a human being, Community/communities, meld together and put time to excellent use.
My empathy understands why Caitlin has ranted somewhat in this email, she is dealing with these areas of mental and spiritual dysfunction everyday-the imbalances etc., but Caitlin do acknowledge that there are many human begins over centuries' who "fight the good fight" ALL their life.
Many raised with Religion being a solid part of our childhoods, which further blinds people to the evil within other human beings. I think this is WHY many Americans' are always preaching at others as though that is all that is required?
NO, God is testing us ALL to be practical and STOP the desecration of ALL the wonders of life and the fruitful World we have been given.
adult. A dolt. YOu bet your arse they are laughing. Even I find it somewhat amusing.
Zionism != Jew. They are 2 entities that intersect - with mostly Israel representing that intersection.
If we get mathematical and start doing set theory, there are many other intersections and unions going on.
Here are some of the the entities - Jews, Israelis, Zionism, Christians.
Now take the intersections and unions and complements of the above entities and you will arrive at a much more nuanced perspective of all the relationships.
But people love simplifying relationships - they love reducing the complexities and nuances of the real world in order to be able to relate to certain viewpoints.
John, be quiet. Compose yourself. You are lashing out. It is ugly.
These trigger reactions are actually signs that they habor internal trauma/guilt. THey did something to someone they don't want to talk or someone did something to them that they don't want to talk about.
BS. Most of the Boomers who protested war in the 60s are now progenocide.
I didn't miss the boat Jeano. Make sense or be quiet.
I disagree. The young are antigenocide. Boomers were antiwar in the 60s. Let us hope the young don't forget like we did. I am 75.
I'll repeat how I opened my comment: "From a demographic perspective."
The concentrated wealth and privilege enjoyed by boomers, demographically speaking, is a hard fact. A hard economic fact which is reflected culturally and politically.
I will not debate this issue with you or give a fucking inch on it. We're done here. Have a great weekend.
“Concentrated wealth and privilege” !!!???
Hey , somebody forgot mine! 🤣🤣🤣
If the establishment is good at nothing else, it has shown that it is very good at determining who can be bought off and who can be co-opted.
This is how fire-eating Sixties radicals were neutered into mild-mannered academics babbling about "change within the system". For that matter, this is how civil rights leaders, people who had done genuinely heroic things at one time, ended up becoming garden variety machine politicians.
Absolutely 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯
I'm not "blaming" anyone, although I note that Jerry Rubin ended up a stockbroker, lol.
Exactly. People live their lives in bubbles of propaganda on facebook,Tiktok etc. They buy into the radical capitalist dystopia of Uber, AirBnB and they rest. They then all join in the privatization of the commons and of public resources, even down to the sidewalks, which they use as parking for private fake-“shared” mini motorbikes which they are renting from by venture capital companies who dont want to obey basic laws of order and dont want to pay on private land or buildings for parking their rental equipment.
These people dont think at all, they give approval to every shitty shiny thing pitched at them that is really meant to destroy them. And then they wonder why things are going wrong.
Definitely not an age issue. It’s a mass sleeping-wide-awake issue.
and everyone, young and old is into social media and staring at their phones while they are on the bus, walking down the street, at home......everywhere. I have looked over the shoulders of people on the bus scrolling through their phones and all they are looking at is ads. But they are totally engrossed in it. It is sad and a bit scary.
A pair of comments:
1. I also think people spend too much time on their phones.
2. A lot of the time I spend on mine is reading things that I used to in print form--books and newspapers. Is this the same for a lot of other people?
could be. I don't have data on my phone just so I won't be on it so much. I do read the news online now though, whereas previously I bought a newspaper and read it. Online news has better, maybe more honest reporting than paper these days
Well said Kudjoe!
I am near your age Susan and I feel the same as you do.
Have worked long and hard at making the world a better place.
Socialism always breeds it's own Entitlement mentality. I too am antiWar since Vietnam, a democRat sponsored war. Then the rinoRat Bushies gave us the 20 Years Wars. Then Clintoons and Obamaites gave us ChiCom Corrupt Cesspool Equity USSA
Agree do not blame the entire older generation. Likewise do not put your trust in the entire younger generation. A very naive proposition all round.
Me too, Susan. I'm now 83 and I can remember all the street-protests from the mid 50s on. I don't actually go to anywhere near as many these days, but I'm always sending off my signature on online protests.
And I certainly showed up for the Voice referendum - for all the good that did.
I remember trying to hand out how to vote YES slips and suddenly finding myself in a ding-dong battle with a man who'd just voted NO and wanted to tell me why.
My greyhound and I walked home in the rain after that encounter, with my tears mingling with the raindrops running down my cheeks - a hugely sad day, followed by an even more hugely sad evening.
It was almost enough to make me swear off going to street protests altogether - ALMOST!
I also feel really sad that my grandchildren will have such a shitty world to grow up in. I don't feel ashamed though or at fault. I know I have done as much as I could to change this situation. I just feel sad a lot.
Neither of my two children had kids, and I used to regret not having grandchildren.
But I can't help thinking nowadays that being a great-grand-stepmother to one young girl, & a grandaunt and a great-grandaunt to my three siblings' respective broods is enough to feel sad for. :-)
Same here Susan. My brother attended university in Ann Arbor, that bastion for liberalism, in the late ‘60’s/early 70’s. I learned as a teenager there what it was like to protest and have been doing so ever since. I’m 69 years old.
75 here. Protested in Berkeley.
That OTHER bastion of liberalism 🙂
I am 75 and have protested every war. You have clearly misread what Caitlin said. If you are not guilty, fine. But 99% of Boomers like us are. If you don't want to be damned then don't disparage the young.
I am not sure who you are replying to or what you are meaning.
agreed.
All of this is caused by corruption in our systems.
Help us build a LEADERLESS society. We don't need leaders anymore. They are the source point of most of our corruption.
Like this: https://joshketry.substack.com/p/help-lets-build-a-new-system-that
I think we need a society with rotating leadership. The reason our present leaders are so corrupt is because they have promoted the idea that their way of thinking and doing things is the best way. They get away with this in part because most of society sees having vast amounts of money as a positive rather than the negative that it is. If leaders could only lead for 6 months and had to carry on from previous leaders, it does have some potential to work better than what we have. I think it would not work to have a totally leaderless society. Maybe smaller groups that made their own decisions, then liaised with other small groups.
The older generation marched as activists when they were younger - WW1, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Korean War, Great Depression, unionization, etc.
The younger generation is marching now - Iraq, climate change, occupy wall street, Israel-Palestine, Yemen, BLM, etc.
It is the "younger people" of all generations (regardless of which generation it is) that are the "physical" activists. As these younger people grow older, they transform their activism in different ways.
Every generation keeps thinking that they marched more, rebelled more, protested more than future generations. Maybe your parents might feel that their generation was more active. Maybe the current "young" generation might feel one day when they grow older that their generation was more active than their future generation.
It's all a relative perspective.
The older generation thinks the present generation has been "dumbed down". (I agree BTW). My parent's generation probably thinks that my generation has been "dumbed down". I'm sure that when the TV came out, or computer video games, or whatever other technology - older generations thought the younger generation was "dumbed down" by the "new technology" of their children's generation. I'm sure that the present generation will think that the generation of their kids will have been "dumbed down" by whatever future technology (eg. AI, virtual reality, or bio-technology, etc.) comes about.
Unfortunately, I am ashamed to admit that I was too naive most of my life to even realize what was going on or to perceive and realize the forces of manipulation all around me.
Also, very few people have the courage to reproach their parents - even when they know that their parents are responsible for something morally wrong or corrupt. I do reproach my parents now - and that has led to the straining of bonds - but my conscience won't let me stay silent or be censored.
There have been many young people marching for Palestine. Also, I have been in many demos in the past years where young and old marched against various issues such as PEGIDA coming to Canada, police violence, the war in Iraq........
Yes the problem is they pretend they are not oligarchs and no one asks any questions. I was listening to a podcast with Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech oligarch, who is behind a zillion large companies like Facebook, Paypal, Palantir, AirBnB etc, and this guy kept asking about “the elite” being other people - professors, journalists teachers, but no not billionaires like him. Kept talking about himself as an ordinary guy and ranting about the market that will save us all. He was completely delusional about his status as an oligarch. And the host of the podcast was gutless and did not challenge him at all.
I mean how does someone like this even manage to hide that he is an oligarch and no one challenges his lie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel
Thank you. Born in 1949 here. I stand by Caitlin.
Never stop doing psychedelics :)
There are greedy people in every generation. That is why we have disaster capitalism.
Che, thanks for pointing out that some of us are STILL hippies.
Redneck hippie? Yes, it’s possible to be one and I’m living proof 😉
It was about this time that a large number of Psychiatric/mental hospitals were closed permanently, and community rules started to loosen, now Society MUST learn about Sociopathy and Psychopathy etc, and indeed take responsibility and deal with these negatives' forces in our World.
Who would have ever thought the concentration camp called Gaza would become the graveyard of the western empire and everything it stands for?
It does appear tp have become such a graveyard, DrWho.
Netanyahu totally rejects Palestine as a state. Against which we have the State of Palestine having been accepted as an observer state of the United Nations General Assembly in November 2012. As of 2 June 2023, 139 of the 193 United Nations (UN) member states have recognized the State of Palestine.
Now what does that mean, really. It means 139 countries favour Palestine as a state........... .....that was in 2012. Since then Israel has poured billions (donated by the US government) into securing support for all its dirty deeds, having owned every President since Johnson and almost every politician in the USA and has certainly been able to bring enough pressure (graft) to bear on most Western European states including Germany, all the White / Anglo / Christians and the 5-Eyes military compatriots (always itching for a war or two) like Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the UK.
BUT, please DO NOT DO A COUNT ON THE SAME RESULT TODAY. The local Zionist chapters in all countries have used their influence to graft further concessions from governments everywhere. It’s the way they work. Look at British Labor, running neck and neck with the Conservatived in the Israeli-grovelling stakes.
Australia the same, as are both Canada and New Zealand. And don't the Zionists love it. “We own the US" said Ariel Sharon. What he didn’t say was 'we own the rest of those weak Western countries as well', and they do.
So where to from here, one has to ask? What about the UN? Currently run by the US Veto. Now does that mean it is now also going to be controlled by Israel (also with a newly polished Veto as well) as they will not accept Palestine under any circumstances, so they say. You know, "the river to the sea" has been around as Israeli doctrine well before Netanyahu has his first plate of Matzoh Ball Soup when they first started to kill the British in 1945 and on, 745 British casualties listed in that time being the casualties for absolute British stupidity
Did those British learn anything from that? Yes, give it all to the Jews and 'let’s get rid of this Jewish problem’, skip all the drama and let’s go home….and they did.
The cause of all the trouble in the Middle East as Israel's grand "Eretz Israel" plan travels into parts of Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Palestine ( already done by US backed genocide), Saudi, Egypt and Jordan backed up by 400 nuclear weapons and, it goes without saying, with the now very pathetic and now totally unrespected US watching Israel's back. A unlimited partner in their crimes
A situation of their own making
Well said!
You perhaps mean the moral graveyard of The West.
Their capacities for industry and state security were lost with The Last Proxy War.
Keynesian Militarism is all they have on offer.
https://les7eb.substack.com/p/genocide-and-economics
Very well said!
who would have thought that? Well quite a few of us old folks to start. Oh wait, it is the young ones who are going to save us. Forgot. Getting old, you know. Those that are now old started all this when they were young. If we ever hope to get out of this mess, we cannot be setting up people against each other. We all have to work together in this.
Good that you got wise. Too many humans keep doubling down.
Completely agree with you. We are all constantly being gaslighted and propagandized by narratives that keep us subservient to the oligarchy. One day the narrative is "Jews are responsible for everything". Another day the narrative is "you are where you are in life because you are lazy, stupid, etc.".
The oligarchy (I call them the power elite) have so many narratives that they use to brainwash people so that the status quo can be maintained. The challenge is to break through all these narratives.
The Oligarchs are in Davos, and have bugs on your menu. Libtards and NeoContards, rinoRats and democRats will All Eat Ze Bugs.
You nailed it !!!
Just want to drop a note here. Second time no notification of post, and not in spam.
Keep your focus on the injustice, Caitlin. Thank you.
We ought to praise and encourage truth telling especially when it is so eloquent as Kaitlin's expression today.
mostly I find Caitlin's writing to be right on, but this one I found to be not well thought out and really, kind of silly. Blaming the older generation for this mess makes no sense and also inhibits the potential for younger people to learn from older ones.
As a boomer and life long radical activist the struggle should not be seen as generational or about the failures of the older generations. Every generation has failed in its mission to fundamentally change society including that of our parents and our own. It’s a hard mountain to move. But we need to recognize that youth and elders should have a collaborative relationship and both can contribute. Elders can benefit from the fresh ideas and energy of the youth, and the youth can learn from the history and experience of the elders who led struggles in past decades, especially during more radical and hopeful times than now. And yes, I will criticize where I disagree regardless of how old you are.
Reply to Ann Menache,
Well said Ann. All these ways to divide people (as if they didn't already have enough ways) as X, Y, Z, millennial or boomer are just more of the same. Divide and rule.
Fresh ideas?
get a life, Paul. We all have to work on this together, young and old. I think it is you who has the unfortunate tone.
I intended to delete that, but things came up. Like, having a life and stuff....
But I won't change my tone. My anger is justified.
well, you can't delete my comment, only your own. In my opinion, it is capitalism and the ensuing greed that has caused most of the world's problems. And people of all ages participate in capitalism. BUT it is those who have enough money to convince enough people to elect them who get into power and then struggle to hang onto that power by creating more wars, more poverty and encouraging consumption which is smothering (quite literally) our world. They make money from the wars, push questionable "solutions" to our environmental and climate problems (old and young alike do this). What they have in common is that they are money grubbers aka capitalists who will stop at very little to get more money into their bank accounts. Check out Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and others.....
While I agree with the gist of what you are saying and I myself am a militant Anti-Capitalist, I wonder if the root of all these problems is more than just the "system of Capitalism".
I mean, greed is universal - with or without Capitalism (as borne out from history). And if Capitalism were somehow eradicated, wouldn't we still have lots of problems? (I surmise this from looking at humanity's historical record).
Yes, I do agree with you and believe that "Capitalism" has arguably been the WORST system that we have come up with - one that has done more damage than any other system in human history (IMHO).
perhaps. I think maybe capitalism came about because of the greed of some people to have more power. It would be interesting if we could figure out why people even need or want to have that much power. Something in their childhood? something more general in our whole society?. there is so much beauty in the natural world, I don't really understand why people want more more more of everything else all the time. Is it how we are educated?
Unfortunately some of those young are being groomed as we speak to be the new empire managers. Most of the young are alright, but it only takes a few of them to pick up the levers and keep the rotten machine going.
"Men die, but the plutocracy is immortal; and it is necessary that fresh generations should be trained to its service" - Sinclair Lewis.
"Israel apologists would have you believe there’s been a sudden worldwide emergence of “Hamas supporters” everywhere rather than a normal and entirely predictable worldwide opposition to genocide."
This. And it gives me hope that there is a growing opposition to genocide. As Caitlin says, "Israel has lost the argument... Time for something new." Hmmm new? How about we never allow this sort of tragedy to happen again?
It is going to happen again:
Little Britain (IF the Tory's win) will be sending plane loads of immigrants to Rwanda!
How is that going to work?
Reply to R.C.
"....never allow this sort of tragedy to happen again?" They said that in 1945. It was a great idea then and it's a great idea now, but how do you do that without regulating the whole population into a (metaphorical) prison?
Have effective international law. Without there is only might makes right.
Right you are. The Global South and BRICS countries are showing they've had enough of the Western/NATO bullying and they're holding Israhel accountable for their war crimes... Mexico and Chile have filed a case at the ICC to try Netanyahu for war crimes. About time!
maybe it might be better to stop regulating people so much. Of course, we cannot accept murderers, rapists etc. but there are a lot of regulations that are just there to make things easier for those with money and power.
I don't see how the young are going to so-called claw their way out of the madness their predecessors left them in and create a healthy world if all they do is play with iphones, eat fast food, ignore books, scorn their more-educated elders, and swallow the propaganda of the corporate elites.
Dey gonna eat hot chips and wage revolution.
I don't think anyone has been portraying the young as "clueless". The intense use of social media and watching cell phones absolutely everywhere is not limited to the young. I am not on any social media except for this substack and I am glad because reading these articles and comments takes up more of my time than I would like. But then, right now, this genocide is Gaza is taking up more of my time than I would like and it is good to be able to see how others are reacting, so I will keep reading the articles here.
I wish more people weened themselves off from social media. Granted, there are benefits to it, but also many harms. Humanity survived for thousands of years without social media.
There is an excellent book by Jaron Lanier called "Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now" (https://www.amazon.com/Arguments-Deleting-Social-Media-Accounts/dp/125019668X).
He also has some deeply insightful videos on YouTube about the subject.
I'm not happy that the university was bombed, so don't get me wrong. But since it was bombed, I hope at least it fell neatly into its own footprint. Like building seven. Now, what could the two possibly have in common...
Caitlin you kick ass as opposed to fake journalists who just kiss Zionist ass
‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 104: Israel’s unrelenting assault continues – ‘If we’re not killed by bombs, we die from the cold, starvation, or disease’
As Palestinians in Gaza continue to be starved and bombed by Israel, the U.S. has designated Yemen's Ansar Allah group as terrorists in hopes of intimidating their resistance against Israel's ongoing aggression.
https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-104-israels-unrelenting-assault-continues-if-were-not-killed-by-bombs-we-die-from-the-cold-starvation-or-disease/
Hi Dr. John
Here’s a MUST READ. Go to Antiwar.com, scroll over to right side under Israel/Palestine, and read the article titled “We are fighting ghosts”.
Apparently about half the IsraHelli ground troops just walked off the job and refuse to fight Hamas. They are TERRIFIED of them!
Which is exactly why IsraHell is withdrawing its ground troops, not because their commanders are voluntarily recalling them.
IsraHell cannot fight man-to-man combat; they can only drop bombs from the sky. Meanwhile, the Hamas resistance…WHAT MEN THEY ARE! ❤️🇵🇸
I don't find "We are fighting ghosts" at antiwar.com, even doing a site search.
I just looked for it; shit, it’s gone 😕
I fear the youth are bludgeoned by a very intense and sophisticated brain washing mind control system perception steering campaign they have been exposed to through their devices from birth...
All social media corporations are tottaly down with the censorship and algorythums designed to present only the status quo narratives and burry alternative real thought ideas and jurnaliamthat deviates from this "norm" deep down in results or simply block and delete.
Its very incidious how it's done too..
Even google the number one search engine is in on it and search results are curated to show a very slanted and one sided results that supports the establishment ,,, and still they are looking the PR war.
You can only lie and con people so far before they start sniffing it out and becoming suspicious but that is only for people who have any sense of integrity or intellectual courage to look past the wall of bull shit we are fed 24/7.
I wish I had more faith in the youth but I'm not so sure they are not falling for it too when all their parents have.
The only merit Capitalism could leave to humanity is to fail destroying the planet so that Socialism is eventually embraced by all the peoples of the world and stop the fascists who’ve been controlling the west for decades.
Fascism is not limited to just Capitalism. There have also been Socialist and Communist regimes that have demonstrated fascism. But yes, moving away from Capitalism is a good first step, but I am doubtful that Socialism (of which there are dozens of varieties) on its own would be the elixir to solve all our problems - I am doubtful that it is the panacea that everyone claims it to be.
How about a hybrid system that combines the best parts of these different ideologies - Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, resource-based economies, etc. with the achievements in technological progress to come up with a better system for humans and the planet?
Now we just need a bunch of geniuses to figure it all out (with feedback from the rest of humanity of course)
Tremendous stuff Caitlin, keep on knocking them out the park.
I don't know how you keep doing it Caitlin. Every paragraph is a gem. Should I ever find myself in your company (not likely, I mean Melbourne, seriously?), I must on no account, ever resemble a nail.
Responding to another post I spelled Caitlin with a habitual K (that I won't do again). Her piece today was extraordinary, encompassing many of the things and expressing the truths that need to be said over and over to and about the older folks running world, national and local affairs these days. I tried for decades and am left saying the same apologies over and over to my two sons now in their fifties and those near and dear to them. I feel so very, very sorry.
pulease. The old guys running things are being advised by all kinds of other people. Stop being sorry and get out there and do something.
Once I had an exchange of thoughts with a lady disputing my claim about humans, this is much more accurate: G. Carlin version!!>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv3LWN3rvOA&list=WL&index=135
George Carlin - another one of my heroes. He has such a poignant and articulate way of using humor to lay bare the contradictions and absurdities of our political systems, belief systems, and human nature.
Thank you Caitlin! You say it as it should be said.