A creed of greed

Could anything be more inappropriate at a summit on economic cooperation than the preaching of capitalism's counter-ethics of selfishness?

The Trump Show

As indictments have started rolling in, the Trump show seems to be building to a climax. I am not pro-Democrat or pro-Republican, but I am definitely anti-Trump. As a human being, he seems to have few redeeming qualities (other than his existential value) and quite many character flaws. As a President, he is an absolutely horrible role model. The drama of his presidency unmasks the multitude of defects in respect to political democracy.

Catalonia

On one hand, Catalonia has the intrinsic features of a distinct society. On the other hand, it seems unlikely that there would be any viable Catalonian movement for separation from Spain if money were pouring into Catalonia from Andalucia. Humanists should work for the welfare of all without pandering to any form of selfishness.

ENAMEL

No More Lies#nml

In every country, it is against the law to give false testimony in court. In every country, there are investigative agencies with the power to demand the truth. And, yet, in every country, the politicians are inveterate liars. From top to bottom, political democracy seems to breed deceit. So why not make a law that disallows all government officials and all candidates for political office from knowingly telling lies to their electorate? Should it not be a crime for politicians to purposefully deceive the public? Of course it should. So why hasn't it happened? Obviously, it hasn't happened, because all of the politicians are doing it; and those same politicians are the ones who pass any legislation. But, leaving aside this practical obstacle, should not we, the people, demand a law like that? Political lies are social crimes. They should be illegal.

Trump Youth

I don't think it is a superficial observation to draw comparison between Trump's style of leadership and that of Hitler. Both were democratically elected leaders who tend (or tended) to cater to an audience that was less socially conscious, more easily impressionable. Following quickly upon his crude, political speech to the Boy Scouts, Trump went on to address the boys and girls of the American Legion (invited to the Rose Garden).

Regarding the earlier speech at the Boy Scouts National Jamboree, all that Sarah Huckabee Sanders had to say about it (see here) was that she saw "nothing but roughly 40-45,000 Boy Scouts cheering the President on throughout his remarks",  "a lot of individuals". What Sarah heard was "nothing but a lot of cheering and probably one of the most energetic crowds [she has] seen in front of the President". Sarah failed/refused to acknowledge the fact that most of those "individuals" are too young to have even participated in the last presidential election. To use the language of Trump,.. sad and bad!

Trump's overheated and underfueled brain

As noted by many, many a time, Trump is a colossal idiot, criminally selfish and habitually mendacious. But the fact that just one person, jackass or otherwise, has the power to pull the USA out of a global accord (and did so) only reinforces the need for the formation of a world government.

Lock him up!

Trump is so repugnant... so dishonest, so corrupt... it may well be that the only way for America to regain its credibility on the world stage is to... lock him up. This man is so incompetent that even with his own party controlling both chambers of Congress, he still could not pass any significant legislation after 114 humiliating days of his presidency. Even his executive orders have been thwarted, twice on the same issue. This is the situation now, but imagine what it will be like after the midterm elections of 2018. The Republicans will almost certainly lose seats in the House of Representatives (possibly even the majority there), although they might manage to keep control of the Senate. No matter how the midterms go, afterwards it will almost certainly become harder for Trump to get anything through Congress. If it seems difficult now, just wait till 2019. What is the solution? Well, it would be great if the Americans could just fire trump. Or, better still, they should lock him up.

At the crossroads

Nowadays, it is finally becoming apparent to many, both intellectuals and non-intellectuals, that democracy is not all that it is cracked up to be. It is not a guarantee of freedom or equality. And it is anything but a guarantee of economic security. The backlash we are seeing around the Western world... from the UK to the US, from Turkey to France... raises a shrill warning as to what may come if democracy is not replaced with a better political system soon.

Democracy thrives as the political system eminently suited to capitalism. But capitalism has proven itself a boon only to an ever-diminishing, wealthy elite. Progressive people, including humanists, must stop clinging to the fiction that giving everyone the vote (within a relatively liberal scope) is intrinsically healthy. The fact is that most people don't care to vote and might not do so, while most of those who actually do vote are uninterested and ill-suited to make choices for society as a whole.

I've mentioned the solution before, and I'll no doubt say it again. The only way I see to maintain a healthy and united society is PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory).

Hypocrite-In-Chief

The mind boggles at what the immature and deranged Donald Trump has done. The mind boggles at the possible consequences of his military adventurism.

No humane person would condone the use of chemical weapons against the civilians of one's own country (or any country)... or even against the non-civilians. But who gave the president of the United States the right to invade another "sovereign" nation? Who appointed the United States as a world government and Donald Trump as the world dictator?

Trump has disqualified himself from acting on the world stage as anything but a negotiator for American interests. He openly takes a stand of "America first", so he clearly does not represent anyone other than Americans. So what gives a man who would not let Syrian children enter the USA as refugees the right to send missiles into Syria when those same children suffer from the entirely foreseeable security risks that Trump's own policies tend to exacerbate?

Even if we leave aside the numerous times that Trump has flip-flopped on the question of military action in Syria, he still stands out as utterly unworthy and unqualified to make a decision about anything outside the United States. The thought of this man holding life-and-death powers is truly chilling.

And the answer is...

Though Passover is still more than two weeks away, here in Israel the advertisements for Pesach sales are everywhere; and people are already wishing each other a happy holiday.

Pesach is coming. And Pesach is the holiday wherein all children get to ask the big questions weighing on their mind... like "What makes this holiday so damned important that we can only eat crackers" and "Where the hell is the afikoman". But there's one other question that is so momentous that even children are wary to ask it. And what is that question... the question that is bound to be added to all haggadahs everywhere sometime in the near future? That question is: "What makes a fish gefilte... There are many fish in the sea - or so my parents tell me - but I've never encountered a gefilte fish, so what makes a fish gefilte?"

Unfortunately, the answer is not so funny, but that's par for the course on Pesach. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefilte_fish.

A happy Spring to you all.

Trump's last tweet

Why are they torturing the Donald with three setbacks in just one day?!

• Strike 2 on his attempted Muslim ban
• Scoffs by Republicans regarding his allegation of being wiretapped
• Round rejection of Trumpian populism by the Dutch electorate

Perhaps Donald should swipe a line from Tricky Dicky's last press conference, taking one last, pouty jab at the media: "You won't have Trump to kick around any more, because this will be my last tweet."