The California Dream

After a brief hiatus, The California Dream podcast has a new beginning.

PHOTO CREDIT:

Impression, Sunrise

Claude Monet, United States public domain.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monet_-_Impression,_Sunrise.jpg

41 Senators represent less Americans than the population of California. Imagine the colossal temper tantrum if California alone could unilaterally veto any federal legislation.

"The Case Against the Filibuster", report by the Brennan Center for Justice

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/case-against-filibuster

Mitch McConnell normalizes political violence.

1. "The Electoral College has spoken. So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.", December 15, 2020 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/15/mcconnell-recognizes-biden-as-president-elect-445450

2. "They failed to attempt to obstruct the Congress. This failed insurrection underscored how crucial the task before us is for our public.", January 6, 2021 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/insurrection.html

3. "There's no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it.", February 13, 2021 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/13/mcconnell-condemns-trump-acquitted-469002

4. "The nominee of the party? ... Absolutely.”, February 25, 2021 https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2021/02/mcconnell-trump-2024-nominee/

David Cross: Why America Sucks at Everything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNghg1Y-WIc

MUSIC CREDIT: "Driving Ambition", by Ahjay Stelino, mixkit.co

PHOTO CREDIT: Gage Skidmore, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitch_McConnell_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg

Rush Limbaugh and Nate Silver could not be further apart ideologically, culturally, or dispositionally. Yet each of these political commentators expressed very similar remarks in the past several weeks. When such divergent media personalities reach similar conclusions, we should take their observations seriously and discuss the implications of what they're saying.

Marcus Ruiz Evans interviews sociologist Hannah Miyamoto about comments Rush Limbaugh made on his radio show in mid-December. Darin Brown prefaces this conversation by relating Limbaugh's comments to recent statements by Nate Silver on his 538 political podcast.

Hannah also discusses the concept of normalcy bias, a cognitive bias that leads people to minimize or underestimate threats. It is the natural tendency of people to underestimate the severity of potential danger, and to react to it too late. Due to this common trait, even media commentators -- persons who normally exaggerate the potential for danger -- may be underplaying the likelihood that the USA will disintegrate within weeks or months due to the stress that Donald Trump and his Republican supporters place upon the country.

SOURCES:

Nate Silver quote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxxNj-5gLpM&t=2182s

Rush Limbaugh quote:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/529609-rush-limbaugh-says-us-trending-toward-seccession

Normalcy bias:

https://thevimblog.com/2017/01/04/americas-collective-normalcy-bias/

https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/8/4/16089558/strikethrough-this-is-fine-bias-cable-news

https://psychologenie.com/insight-into-concept-of-normalcy-bias-in-psychology

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-you-and-me/202003/how-psychological-biases-shaped-my-response-pandemic

https://www.thephilosophyman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Trump-Cognitive-Biases.pdf

MUSIC CREDIT:

1. "Ambient Beat", by Bransboynd; elements.envato.com

PHOTO CREDIT:

Gage Skidmore, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/22007612@N05/49290977886

One hundred seventy-five years ago the U.S. invaded and conquered California as part of its plan for expanding its territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately for the people of California, their lands were on the American target list. They would only learn this when American troops captured Monterey and other towns along the coast in July 1846. However, within a month, Californians began an armed resistance against the Americans, starting by defeating American troops in Los Angeles.

With American democracy under constant assault, and attacks on the integrity of the nation occurring regularly, now is the time to remember that California did not become a state voluntarily, but at literal gunpoint. Through the unprecedented research of Executive Producer Dr. Hannah Miyamoto, and the sponsorship of the Ohana Justice Center Charitable Trust, "The California War" is producing a series of videos for YouTube that relate each week of the American invasion and conquest of California, from January 2021 to January 2022. Your tax-deductible donation through Patreon has never funded a more timely and necessary video project.

The California War YouTube channel:

www.thecaliforniawar.com

The California War Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/TheCaliforniaWar

MUSIC CREDITS:

1. "Guitar stroke down slow"; mixkit.co

2. "California Hacienda", by simming; elements.envato.com

The European Council on Foreign Relations released a report yesterday (January 19) on how Europeans view Biden's victory in the US presidential election and how their perspectives on American power and foreign policy have changed. The survey, conducted by Datapraxis and YouGov, polled 15,000 Europeans across 11 countries. Majorities in key member states now think the US political system is broken and that China will overtake the US as a world power within a decade. The report frankly concludes, "A majority of Europeans doubt that Biden can put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

SOURCE:

https://ecfr.eu/publication/the-crisis-of-american-power-how-europeans-see-bidens-america/

MUSIC CREDIT:

"Vastness", by Andrew Ev; mixkit.co

PHOTO CREDIT:

David Lienemann, public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joe_Biden_at_the_2016_World_Economic_Forum.jpg

Marcus Ruiz Evans interviews Hannah Miyamoto about the recent confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Hannah also discusses how the federal judiciary has been transformed under President Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. This conversation took place in October 2020, just before the general presidential election.

MUSIC CREDIT:

1. "Getting Ready", by Ahjay Stelino; mixkit.co

PHOTO CREDIT:

Andrea Hanks, public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Coney_Barrett#/media/File:The_Swearing-in_Ceremony_of_the_Honorable_Amy_Coney_Barrett_(50546676973).jpg

This afternoon (January 6), a mob stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC. We need to start a conversation about what this means for Californians.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Merbler, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol_DSC09156_(50826223403).jpg

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a dream as “a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal”. What is the California dream? And how does it compare and contrast to the American dream, or – as many now understand it – the American nightmare? Can California aspire to reach her dreams within an undemocratic and dysfunctional American system? Or should California chart her own course and determine her own destiny?

Hi, my name is Darin Brown, and these are just some of the questions we’ll be asking in our new podcast The California Dream.

Let me tell you about some of what we have planned for the future. We’ll discuss California history and culture. We’ll talk to activists in the California independence campaign and keep you up to date on current events in the Calexit movement. We are also proud to host audio episodes of The California War, a new weekly video series that will recall the events leading to the American conquest of California on its 175-year anniversary. We’ll interview authors and scholars whose work intersects with history, government, political theory, and international relations.

So, if you want to learn more about California, or if you just care about the California dream, we’d love to have you subscribe and join us as we navigate through these truly unprecedented times.