Stephan: It is interesting how cultural tells develop. Here's an example of what I mean. These things are important, particularly in christofascist circles. They identify a person without having to say anything. Creating totems is a classic step in authoritarian fascist cohorts, i.e., MAGAt world.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Three online shops that sell rosaries have reported a boost in sales following a controversial article published Sunday in The Atlantic magazine which attempted to link the rosary to right-wing extremism in the United States.
In the article, Daniel Panneton claimed, “The rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or “rad trad”) Catholics.”
“Militia culture, a fetishism of Western civilization, and masculinist anxieties have become mainstays of the far right in the U.S.—and rad-trad Catholics have now taken up residence in this company,” he continued.
The article sparked a frenzy of comments on social media, as Catholics shared photos of their rosaries. Some observed that the article’s thesis had an anti-Catholic bias.
Shannon Doty, CEO of Rugged Rosaries, told CNA Monday that she saw “a pretty good boost in sales” on both of her websites, RuggedRosaries.com and MonkRosaries.com amid the reaction to the article.
Rugged Rosaries sells durable rosaries, inspired by rosaries that used to be used in the military during World War I.
Stephan: This is what the MAGAt world's obsessive gun psychosis is doing to American culture. First, it was Black women who began arming themselves, now it is Asian Americans. More guns, more murders and suicides, increasing civil violence. We are entering a civil war, only the majority side has not yet recognized what is happening.
Credit: Emanuel Hahn / The Guardian
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – More than 5 million people became first-time owners during the pandemic as gun sales to the community rose by about 43%
Vivian Moon, a real estate agent and artist, had never felt particularly afraid as a woman living alone in Buena Park, a small California city outside Los Angeles. But when violent attacks against Asian women and seniors increased across the US early last year, she became disillusioned with the police’s ability – and willingness – to protect people who looked like her.
So, like many other Americans of Asian descent, she decided to buy a gun. “I realized I have to take ownership of how I want to live my life,” said Moon, 33.
In the year since, Moon said she’s made an effort to reach out and teach her friends, many of whom are women of color, about gun safety. As a Korean woman who grew up in the 1990s, Moon is also inspired by the legacy of the Los Angeles uprising and the armed Korean immigrants who defended […]
Stephan: This illustrates the point I made in my comment for the previous article. The Trumper MAGAts are trying to take control of the electoral system, and they are preparing for civil violence if that doesn't work.
America could be rapidly approaching a new civil war and the August 8 search warrant execution at Mar-a-Lago could be a turning point in American history.
Donald Trump as Rambo flag / Shutterstock.
Writing in The Atlantic, Tim Alberta warned, “this country is tracking toward a scale of political violence not seen since the Civil War. It’s evident to anyone who spends significant time dwelling in the physical or virtual spaces of the American right. Go to a gun show. Visit a right-wing church. Check out a Trump rally. No matter the venue, the doomsday prophesying is ubiquitous—and scary. Whenever and wherever I’ve heard hypothetical scenarios of imminent conflict articulated, the premise rests on an egregious abuse of power, typically Democrats weaponizing agencies of the state to target their political opponents. I’ve always walked away from these experiences thinking to myself: If America is a powder keg, then one overreach by the government, real or perceived, could light the fuse.“
“What made January 6 so predictable—the willingness of Republican leaders to prey on the insecurities and outright paranoia of […]
Stephan: Very few polls address the very important issue of the difference between what people think privately and what they say publicly. Here, for the first time, is some hard data on this issue. It is quite surprising.
“Self-silencing” — people saying what they think others want to hear rather than what they truly feel — is skewing our understanding of how Americans really feel about abortion, COVID-19 precautions, what children are taught in school and other hot-button issues, a new study finds.
Why it matters: The best predictor of private behavior is private opinion. People’s actual views are far more likely than their stated views to drive consumer and social behavior — and voting.
“When we’re misreading what we all think, it actually causes false polarization,” said Todd Rose, co-founder and president of Populace, the Massachusetts-based firm that undertook the study. “It actually destroys social trust. And it tends to historically make social progress all but impossible.”
The big picture: People are often more moderate than they’ll readily admit when “being pulled toward a vocal fringe,” whether left or right, Rose said.
But in some cases, he said, people reshape their privately held views to conform to what they think their group believes, even if that assessment is inaccurate.
The gap between real and stated views can have a […]
Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate, Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center, Columnist - The New York Times
Stephan: I was gobsmacked when during the vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which contained the largest commitment ever made for climate remediation did not get a single affirmative vote by Senate Republicans. How is it possible, given the overwhelming evidence of what climate change is already doing that a Republican Senator, many of whom represent states which will be most strongly affected, vote against the wellbeing of their constituents? Paul Krugman has a view on this which is, I think, worth your attention.
Credit: Damon Winter / The New York Times
In 1990 Congress passed an amendment to the Clean Air Act of 1970, among other things taking action against acid rain, urban smog and ozone.
The legislation was highly successful, greatly reducing pollution at far lower cost than business interest groups had predicted. I sometimes see people trying to use acid rain as an example of environmental alarmism — hey, it was a big issue in the 1980s, but now hardly anyone talks about it. But the reason we don’t talk about it is that policy largely solved the problem.
What’s really striking from today’s perspective, however, is the fact that the 1990 legislation passed Congress with overwhelming, bipartisan majorities. Among those voting Yea was a first-term senator from Kentucky named Mitch McConnell.
That was then. This is now: The Inflation Reduction Act — which, despite its name, is mainly a climate bill with a side helping of health reform — didn’t receive a single Republican vote. Now, the I.R.A. isn’t a leftist plan to insert […]
