Saturday Night is Alright.

I have not actually written much of anything since the election. Not just on this little blog, but at all. My higher brain functions have been doing other things; trying to solve social and electoral problems. Also, the new Gilmore Girls came out and that ate two days of my life.

So tonight, after spending several days on a research project for class, I went and bought the cheapest pizza I could find, the cheapest red wine I could find, and now I’m going to find the longest Pixies playlist that Youtube has on offer and I’m going to sit down and try to write.

It won’t be good, but it will be writing. I have never been able to successfully meditate, but the closest to any zen that I have ever gotten is when I’m tapping out words on a keyboard, so I am going to try that for a little while. That’s what Saturday nights are for, right?

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Look at this cool stairwell I found! I was waking across campus with my hat and scarf and an armload of library books like I live in a damn movie.

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How Bullshit Works.

How terrible is our political life right now? Our civic life has all but gone up in smoke.

I think it is important to understand the how and the why. Below you will find a link to a recent episode of the show On the Media, which I trust. This episode explores what we call “the alt-right” and what that actually is. It explores how Breitbart News is only one thing Steve Bannon does, and it explains how all that works. It also deals with “fake news” and Facebook.

It is my humble opinion that this episode should be required listening for all Americans.

You should listen to it. It will make you feel better, it will piss you off, it will make you sad. But no matter what, it will help you understand the country we live in now. I think most of the people talked about here are sons of bitches, but I am happy to learn that their reality (just like mine) is underwritten by a basic machinery of logic. That means we can beat them.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

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Never has there ever been a bird less in danger than this one.

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A Glimmer of Good News.

So how are you enjoying post-election America???

I had been looking forward to the end of the election-cycle and to maybe getting to worry about something else, please god anything else!

Well I guess I should have been more specific about that, huh?

It is hard not to obsess over everything going on. It is counter-intuitive, but I came across the below article and it is such a deep examination of the election that I actually found it relaxing to read. Perhaps because it is SO long and SO wonky. It also dispels some of the “narratives” surrounding this election by examining the actual information we currently have. As I am a fan of really wonky and deep examinations of … you know, basically anything, I found this to be a fantastic read. If you’re not burnt out on this kind of stuff, I would suggest giving it a shot. It is VERY long and VERY boring, but worth it.

If you’re hanging out online because you’re looking for something, anything to make you feel a little better, I will leave you with a little summary of one point made in the article:

Donald Trump received fewer actual votes than either John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012. That may change a little when we have all the numbers finalized in a few weeks, but it means that Trump did not actually discover some vast and previously invisible group of voters.

What happened in 2016 is that Hillary received about 6 million fewer votes than Obama in 2012 and about 9 million fewer votes than Obama in 2008.

Here is what that looks like:

What that means is we don’t actually live in a country overrun with racists and bigots and people pushing us toward collapse and chaos. It means we live in basically the same country we always have, we just got apathetic. Apathy is fixable.

Here is the article:

The 10 Most Common Post-Election Narratives, and Why They're All Wrong.

Keep your chin up and try to be nice to each other.

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