My Soapbox

With the Presidential result for the 2020 election in the United States still hanging in the balance, and Donald Trump pushing litigation in some closely contested states such as Wisconsin and Michigan, demanding counts be stopped, and further demanding the Supreme Court intervene to decide the election in his favor, I have come to a recent revelation about the misnomer of the "United States of America." We are not the United States, and maybe never have been, and that perhaps secession between "red states" and "blue states" is the best option at this point of seeming no return in our ever-polarized environment. The fact this election is even close when you have on the watch of Donald Trump kids in cages separated from their parents, the worst pandemic in 102 years crippling the world and America, with over 100,000 Covid-19 cases in the United States yesterday - a record, the administration already has said plainly they have no intentions of controlling, and a sitting President who in the simplest terms is attacking American democracy in an effort to remain in office is beyond all hopes for description. The fact 2016 was not a fluke, the fact that half of America votes in favor of despotism, narcissism, denial of science, evidence, and reason, even if it means the destruction of the health and life of themselves and their children and grandchildren is beyond depressing, and makes me believe we just need to call the 150 year experiment since the Civil War for what it is - a failure and move on. We have lived as two separate nations with incompatible ideologies for at least a century and a half if not since America's inception. It's time to amicably separate as two nations, and end the "United States" hypocrisy.  

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Recorded on Election Day in the United States, Tuesday, November 3, 2020, I talk about some of my thoughts on the very early trends of the Presidential Race according to the Associated Press, as well as my thoughts on Sam Harris' most recent podcast episode entitled "The Key to Trump's Appeal" in which Sam describes what he believes so many find appealing in Trump. 

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In this episode I discuss some of the disturbing parallels between the fictional character of Don Giovanni from Mozart's famous opera with Donald Trump, including the bullying, the narcissism, the art of seducing gullible commoners, the double-standards which allow him to get away with seemingly anything while everyone around him runs in circles, unable to cope with the chaos he creates. I also refer to and reflect on the most recent podcast episode on Sam Harris' "Making Sense" entitled "A Conversation with Andrew Sullivan" in which they speak of the horrors and collateral societal and political damage brought on by Trump's narcissistic presidency. 

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In this episode I speak urgently on the necessity to vote Trump out of office in the upcoming election just to give ourselves a chance at successfully battling Covid-19. After reading the White House Chief of Staff’s comments in the New York Times that “We’re not going to control the pandemic,” they have blatantly advertised their commitment to not protecting Americans opting instead to focus on hypothetical future treatments and vaccines instead of the only tool we have at the moment - prevention. This advice to not even try to combat the virus flies in the face of all credible scientific and medical advice and is to me if ever there was one, the sole reason to not vote the Republicans back into office. They have said and demonstrated since the start of the pandemic in no uncertain terms they have zero interest in prevention and protecting Americans and by extension the world at large. To give ourselves even a “puncher’s chance” against the pandemic, we must vote Trump out of office.

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In this episode I discuss some of the ethical implications of embracing the idea of “herd immunity” and my disgust at its endorsement by Trump officials. This to me just signals the mass concession that the virus has won, and since the prospect of an effective, safe, and mass distributed vaccine is still almost certainly months away at best, some have decided to “throw in the towel” and quit on trying to limit Covid 19’s spread because of a commitment to money, economics, and selfishness over human lives. The problem is, according to health experts, we are nowhere even close to achieving “herd immunity” if it even exists at all, and the other problem is, it is unknown whether there is even such a thing as “long term immunity” with COVID-19 in the first place. The idea of herd immunity with respect to Covid-19 is based on many such flawed and not necessarily correct assumptions as I discuss in this episode.

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In this episode I speak with my friend Dave on several topics especially salient to these turbulent times; the issue of not being able to agree as a society on common values, which I believe may be the cornerstone issue of our society; the bad faith and disingenuous arguments by those who don’t respect science, evidence, and sound reasoning. Also discussed is the role of culture and class in our societal fragmentation and how we might best repair and heal our fractured world.

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In this episode, I do yet another movie review on the all-time most influential film of my life - "Amadeus," the winner of 8 Academy Awards in 1984, including best picture.  In this review, I talk about my own life and how it would not be what it is today had I not first seen this film in my music class in Jr. High. I discuss some of the historical inaccuracies  of this film, which are several, however I also discuss how the filmmakers never intended this to be an historically accurate screen biography of Mozart's life.  I also discuss some differences between the historical Mozart and Salieri with their screen and play counterparts, some of the differences between the theatrical cut and the director's cut for Amadeus, and why I believe the original theatrical cut is superior to the director’s cut. I also discuss some of the differences between the play and screen versions of this story. 

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In this episode, I express some of my thoughts on the slippery slope we can go down when we strive for a kind of illusory "moral purity" in our decision-making such as banning or boycotting certain things because of "moral objections." Sometimes this can be legitimate, such as boycotting businesses which use sweatshops, child labor, or other unethical practices, however at the same time if we look closely enough, it will be very difficult to find any human endeavor which is not in some way tainted by human imperfection and even questionable ethical implications. I also discuss the idea of "taboo trade-offs," and other such compromises we all make which are difficult to discuss out loud, but are practiced by all of us in some way, shape, or form for our convenience and myriad other reasons nevertheless.  

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In another "movie review" episode, I discuss my thoughts on the films "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and its sequel, "Staying Alive." (1983) I talk about my belief that "Staying Alive" is unfairly maligned and has received far more criticism than it deserves, as it is a logical continuation of "Saturday Night Fever" in which Tony Manero brilliantly played by John Travolta decides to persue a dancing career in Manhattan on Broadway per his brother's urging in “Saturday Night Fever.” There is excellent character development in which Tony sees the errors of his selfish, womanizing ways and realizes his commitment and love for his girlfriend Jackie. He also finds more self respect as a dancer who proves to himself he can do it, or "go the distance" in the spirit of "Rocky," in which Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone co-wrote and also directed "Staying Alive." I discuss what I believe to be the upsides of both films, while recognizing "Staying Alive" while not as bad as it was panned by critics is not as good as the gritty, realistic and hard-hitting "Saturday Night Fever." 

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