I appreciate your empathy, Marianne. We must recognize how important empathy is right now for us all: it is actually a "super" power. For when we practice empathy, it allows us to grow inside, to become more generous, to mature emotionally, to experience even greater restraint, and to arrive at greater objectivity. Moreover, empathy has the power to melt hardened hearts.
Both the Democrats and also the for-profit media have largely ignored how many ordinary Americans are struggling to pay their basic bills now. But that is not the full story...
We live in the most materialistic nation in the world, the US. Our nation is relatively young, and thus immature. We have yet to learn fairness, so since our nation's founding there has been economic disparity. While we like to flatter ourselves that we are a meritocracy, we fail to acknowledge that people are not born to families with the same access to resources and privilege. By not recognizing it, we imagine that it is just "natural" that some children go to overcrowded schools and may never learn to read or write adeptly, while others will receive tutoring and mentors and diverse opportunities for self-enrichment. (Lack if educational opportunities leave both many inner city children and rural children disadvantaged.) So it is important to recognize that gross economic disparity is not merely unjust. It threatens our democracy.
All of us need to become better educated in the true sense of the word, and to be afforded more time to achieve this. Perhaps we say we don't have the time for this. But we could reduce the work week to 30 hours, which would allow for more time for both leisure and self-improvement, time with one's family and friends, as well as time for increased civic engagement--which is essential should we want to live in a democracy. The sociologist Jeremy Rifkin wrote about how the government could devise incentives to motivate corporations to cut their workers' hours without reducing their pay--which would also allow more workers to be hired, reducing unemployment.
We can also consider what we each might do to better the situation we find ourselves in, in simple ways. For example, we could choose to take more time to get to know people in our communities and across the nation; truly we need to grow more open-hearted and curious about those who are different from us.
Personally though, I do not believe these antidotes to our society's ills (such as increased empathy, restraint, and curiosity) are what Trump is offering us. What he is promising is a government that is even more imperfect than the last, one that is much more cruel and vindictive perhaps than we have ever seen before. He's not at all interested in addressing ordinary Americans' unmet needs. And he certainly is disinterested in resolving gross economic disparity. Rather he will reward those who flatter him, who do him favors, and who increase his sense of invulnerability. He will reward the ultra-wealthy who have backed him and he will scapegoat the most vulnerable. How do I know this? He already is doing it. He did it during his first term. By increasing polarization, moreover, he deviates the Public's focus away from the true causes of the most pressing problems of our time.
Should Trump successfully dismantle the government as he has promised (eviscerating the minimal laws that presently restrict the Wealthy and regulate corporations from exploiting workers or polluting our environment), who then will protect the People and the environment?
Personally, I would describe Trump and too many of the Americans (i.e., many of the Maga Republicans, along with the billionaires, the media moguls, and the weapons industry etc.) as not merely foolhardy. I would underscore that those who steal society's goods and dismantle its protections are trolls, cynics and saboteurs par excellence. They use cunning to undermine and destabilize others. And they treat it like a game, when really it is pathological.
So what can we responsible individuals do now--before January and in the near future?
1. We can extend ourselves and express interest and kindness to all people we meet. And we can stretch our capacity to be empathic.
2. We can resist succumbing to fear and hatred. We achieve this by recognizing that such negative emotions accomplish nothing. Moreover they feed people's worst qualities and breed violence.
3. We can choose 1 subject or issue that is important to us. We can schedule some time daily or weekly to research it, to deepen our understanding. And we can find opportunities to speak or write about what we have rigorously studied, to help or educate others.
4. We can volunteer our time to better the world in response to what we know. (Change may seem slow or invisible, but we empower ourselves when we choose to get more involved).
5. Perhaps most importantly, we can mobilize.
Time is of the essence now considering the diverse, urgent and important issues impacting all of us. Truly it is a privilege to be alive!
Nice Ariane. What do you make of Trumps appointment if Kennedy and saying he will get rid of pesticides herbicidies and make food healthy. It seems at complete odds with every other policy and appointment?
Chris: I too am happy should Kennedy actually get the job done on pesticides, herbicides and make food healthy. Maybe even addressing forever chemicals in our water supply (PFAS). EPA sets standards. However, EWG.org offers more stricter guidelines. I thought we did some of that health food with the new pyramid food chart. 'The China Study' publication indicates and Standard American Diet (SAD), is not so good to say the least! Kennedy might make some moves. It still might not bring cost of food down because companies just reduce packaging and not reduce price of good food. His anti-vacination position might cause childhood eradicated disease to return (Polio, measles, chicken pox, etc). Sure choice is freedom. However, when that choice might infect and harm fellow human beings, especially school aged children), will those parents that choose not to vaccinate accept responsibility that their child infected someone else's child? As I recall, statistics of in hospital Covid19 admissions were majority of patients that did not vaccinate. Those vaccinated may have experienced Covid symptoms that did not require vaccination. In conclusion it's not a partisan to want the Right to Clean and Healthy Water. It's also not partisan to observe Wisdom, Love and Generosity vs. Ignorance, Hate, and Greed. It's gonna be some ride for next 4 years. Hopeful or not hopeful.
Studies show that children who have never been vaccinated are much healthier than children who have been vaccinated. This has been a censored fact for years. I’m confident that RFK Jr will show this data. Hopefully now the censorship will end and Americans will be able to more easily see this fact. The lie that people who are unvaccinated were more likely to be hospitalized or die from Covid will also be exposed. Many studies have shown this. RFK Jr is also aware that there has been an unexplained significant increase in all cause mortality deaths since 2021 in countries where the population had a high rate of Covid vaccine uptake, particularly among younger individuals. I hope he will tackle figuring out why this is true. If the Trump administration is able to go back to our policy of not allowing pharma advertising in media possibly mainstream news will be able to actually report on these subjects instead of being controlled by big pharma. I’m looking forward to the changes that will happen with the new administration. I pray for the safety of President Trump and RFK Jr. because there are a lot of corrupt people who don’t want to lose their power.
Indeed 'Patients vaccinated for COVID-19 had reduced mortality, especially for obese/severely obese and older individuals. Vaccination’s protective effect against mortality declined over time and hospitalized obese and older individuals may derive especially great benefit from prior vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.'
I appreciate the respectful discussion here. I just also want to point out that it's my understanding RFK is not anti-vax, he's anti-mandate and pro-good-science. Anti-vax is the short-cut derogatory label the pro-Covid-vax establishment pushed to malign, denigrate, and de-platform RFK and others who dared speak up against the Covid vaccination mandates. As someone who had a significant adverse reaction to the second Covid vaccination, I began to listen to others who were either harmed or were too health-compromised to even consider getting the Covid vaccination. They were shunned, belittled, and basically run-over ruthlessly. Talk about one's autonomy and sovereignty over our own bodies and lives.. If nothing else, RFK could now get a real and robust conversation out to the mainstream. Prayers anyhow.
There is much good to say about Kennedy's work with the Children's Defense Fund. Pesticides are poisoning our air, water, and soil--and thus our food. They should be severely curtailed and natural solutions, many that have long existed, need to be implemented.
We all need to be protected from ravenous corporations, but also the Americans and Congress must mature beyond impulsivity and favoring convenience. We need a change in priorities nationwide.
I am hopeful that potent, "alternative" therapies will become more widespread and more readily used in the future, which includes homeopathy. That being said, I am concerned about Kennedy's extreme stance on certain issues, which includes his condemning all vaccines, including those that have been proven effective for decades, such as the small pox and polio vaccines.
It is important to remember that Jonas Salk relinquished the patent rights to the polio vaccine, stating that the vaccine he created belonged to ALL people. Truly, we need more politicians of this caliber (not only scientists and intellectuals but also those more spiritually evolved).
Ariane: It use to be the 'World Bankers' annually siting off the English Coastline many years past. Now it's the 'owners' of USA (Koch Brothers, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others) that make sure voters are just educated enough to vote for whom they want in the Presidential Office. Dems propaganda of 'the borders are safe', the economy is doing great (did not have any clue that people are experiencing putting food on table). Sure if you are a new-liberal and/or CEO of stock and bonds holder receiving dividend checks from your stocks and bonds you're doing fantastic now. However as stocks and bonds go up, the only thing for profit business may cut is workers wages (corporations have to pay utlities and upkeep on property and rent). The beauty of working class voters and people whom say they care about working class is like a boxing match. Two boxers banging each others brains out while the promoter walks away with the BIGGEST purse! The 'owners' are going to be given sweet government contracts while the homeless, vulnerable are being blamed among others.
There have been so many of us, for such a long time, working to transform and evolve the political-economic system, so that things would NOT come to this scary place... and they have. And here we are... AND, there is still hope, "hope in the dark" (Solnit)... THANK YOU for all your efforts, Marianne, and also, thank you to all of the organizers and activists way back when, who educated and protested against NAFTA, the "free trade" agreement that let all the factories flee and the good jobs disappear... and THANK YOU, more recently, to all of the people who supported Bernie in his efforts to turn things around, and who were also tremendously disappointed...
AND, we don't always lose, though sometimes it can feel that way! so here's a huge THANK YOU to all of those humans who succeeded in significant ways over the decades, whom we don't often acknowledge... folks whose dedication and struggle gained what was, once upon a time --before the "double shift" became a necessity for so many of us -- the 5-day work week and the 8 hour work day and the overtime and the unions and the rapidly-disappearing middle class...
and back to the present, THANK YOU to all of the people who organized and activated to have this election turn out differently, even while knowing that this was only the first step... AND, AND, AND,.... much gratitude for all of us who are doing our best to understand and learn from, why things have turned out as they did. I don't think I'm the only one, with family members who voted differently... AND, AND, AND.... What to do with our anger, and the grief and fear that are usually underneath?
Along those lines I was deeply moved by the recent video of how some indigenous / First Nations members of Parliament in New Zealand, have responded to current bad-faith attempt to wipe out the treaty signed way back when, by passing a new bill saying "we are going to treat everyone the same" (meaning, sorry, no 'special privileges' for all those folks we invaded, whose lands we took and whose homes we destroyed....) TRIGGER WARNING... the video may be cathartic, AND, it's intense: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/freda-wells-aaabb78_antiracism-colonialism-activity-7262887527622017024-XrfK?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
May we all find ways to transform our rage into fierce protection for all the vulnerable ones, the children and mothers and older folks and winged ones and ocean ones and four-footed ones and rooted ones, as ALL life is vulnerable, AND, paradoxically, all life is also, tremendously powerful... “For great as the powers of destruction may be, greater still are the powers of healing”.
Wish I had the time to be worried about New Zealand natives. This kind of misguided empathy just tends to distract the uninformed in all directions. Mean while, change is at the moment.
"I don’t care that Trump is taking a hammer to the machine. Democrats should have taken one to it long ago. Too many people who voted Democrat in the past feel they tried and tried. Now, in their despair, they are willing to try something else.
I don’t agree with their political calculation, but I respect their yearning."
I loved this post, Marianne, maybe more than any other. "The economy" largely works for those whose wealth is tied to wheeling and dealing in stocks, were able to buy a home a long time ago with their educations already paid for and the inherited family wealth to do so.
The politicians wheeling and dealing in stocks, especially in corporations that profit from making implements that mass-murder people, sell peoples' personal information--unregulated-- and track them everyplace but the toilet--unregulated-- are part of this privileged cohort, and they sure as hell don't understand the real economy or even real life. Between twelve and thirteen million registered Democrats who voted in solidarity in 2020 chose to sit this one out in 2024 for good reason. Trump won with fewer votes than he got when he lost in 2020. His base didn't change but that of Democrats shrunk so much that Trump won the popular vote by twice Hillary's 2016 popular vote.
And calling their constituents "antisemitic" who won't cheer-lead for a genocide with the mindless "vote blue no matter who" mantra and who feel fear and alarm from an administration too f'ing weak to tell Bibi Netanyahu he cannot run our nation, our universities, or order our militarized police to use lethal force against our children of college age who embarrass him by nonviolently protesting his Zionist gangsters' ethnic cleansing--- that SHOULD cost them lots of constituents' votes.
I don't agree that Trump intends to make things better for us and may well plan to make slavery an equal-opportunity profession for citizens of any skin color, but I do understand a vote voicing desperation with a status quo intent on doing much the same, purposely refusing to hear and PRETENDING otherwise. Even their partisan stooges could see the pretense.
"Between twelve and thirteen million registered Democrats who voted in solidarity in 2020 chose to sit this one out in 2024 for good reason. Trump won with fewer votes than he got when he lost in 2020. His base didn't change but that of Democrats shrunk so much that Trump won the popular vote by twice Hillary's 2016 popular vote." Ouch that stings. Thank you for this, I learned a few things from your comment
I mean, I usually listen to what you say but I can't wrap my head around any of this. Weren't the last four years a lot better than the pandemic, the insurrection and Christian Nationalism?
Marianne, You left out Trump's reinforcement of the established elite, so maybe that's why the "smashing" feels less easy to celebrate.
Lack of critical thinking and discernment left many of Trump's infamously "poorly educated" yearning to be led by an authoritarian who they fervently believe will deliver on RFK's MAHA mission without noticing the bigotry and hatred trump espouses or the lack of social (and medical) safety net plans.
Additionally, trump doesn't believe in small business (at least not the one's he bankrupted), overtime pay, worker's rights, healthcare for all, effective migrant-worker arrangements or that the disabled and elderly have meaning in his world. When you don't mention just a smidge of that, your missives almost seem to praise him.
Yes, expose the Democratic Party for their errors, but please don't whitewash Trump's hate-speach stump and lack of concern for humanity. RFK's fervor aside, Trump has very little to offer many of those who voted him into the President-elect position.
I just wish people would stop drinking the political kool laid to form their opinions on candidates and/or their supporters. The talking points are stale and condescending. And the propensity to stereotype more than half of Americans as poorly educated, low intellect is plain bullying, and untrue. The Democrat elite are more racially motivated and authoritarian than anyone. Not to mention a threat to democracy with their latest shenanigans. Most of the descriptive language you used apply more to them. That is why I am an independent now. And why I voted for a Republican for president for the first time. It is time for a change and that is what I voted for in this election. I agree with Marianne, it will not be pretty, but it is necessary. Let’s give it a chance and see what happens. I have hope that this happened for an important reason…I trust the universe. We don’t need to be sheep, we should do our own even handed research and use our intelligence with or without a degree.
For anyone that believes the last four years were better than the first Trump administration please widen your search for news beyond the corporate mainstream media.
I thought they were better. Though they didn't roll back a lot of damage Trump did, and they didn't put the country on a moral footing again (immigration, genocide). Maybe you stand in a different position than I do. I never read corporate news, only leftist.)
They were much better, but for Marianne, they were not Bernie enough.
She doesn't and can't see the many ways Biden was a superior President and Kamala Harris was the actual hope of the nation. She is also dismissing the power of Right Wing Media lies, and the racism they exploited to get deregulation in place that would make them MILLIONS.
Discontent with Biden not being everybody's Santa Claus RIGHT NOW and - again - the many ways racism has ingrained itself into every facet of American society led to this result... not a lack of Democratic Socialist policies fueled by a magical shearing of defense spending.
The Bernie Agenda may seem popular to those who believe in it, but the numbers tell the tale. People want centrist policies, a stable government, and less public rancor, which they will certainly not get under Trump. But he will fulfill Marianne's 2024 campaign agenda to #DisruptTheCorrupt. And it's worth noting that two of the people Marianne has seen as peers in being dismissed by the Democratic Party are now meaningfully positioned in the Trump Administration. So I see the "silver lining" for her, even though I believe it's a mirage.
Watch the new documentary by Jenner Furst called Thank You Dr. Fauci if you want to begin seeing some of what has been going on in this country for years. Then reassess your thoughts on the Biden Harris administration
I respect Marianne. Folks like she and Bill Maher have come to the conclusion that the reason Trump got elected was because 75 million Americans are in economic despair? That's a bunch of bullcrap pardon my French. There are so many quite well off folks voting for Trump and I don't mean the one percent. They come from all of the percents of economic situations. What Marianne is missing or doesn't address. I would love to have a conversation with her if you're listening!, Is the propaganda an information bubble that so many people live in. That combined with the completely low information voters that don't even care to look for the information. All I have to do is ask who is secretary of State. These people have no idea. That's just a example I pluck. They don't understand that Barack Obama for instance had a Nobel prize-winning nuclear physicist as Secretary of energy and Donald Trump picked Governor Rick Perry of Texas to take over the position. They don't understand that with authoritarianism comes complete incompetence. We have a problem with education in this country. We have a problem with propaganda and corporate media ownership in this country. This shit about everybody who voted for Trump can't afford bacon narrative is driving me fucking nuts!
Look at the states that went Dem. Only the northeast and the west coast--BY FAR the richest areas of the country. The Dems are now the party of the wealthy elites. It's obvious by the voting pattern. It has nothing to do with education or information. People have all the education and information they need to understand that the bicoastal elites will drive this country straight into hell as long as their Zestimate keeps going up.
Bernie Democrats agreeing with the GOP narrative about Democrats Don't Care About Your Pain At The Kitchen Table is called The Horseshoe Effect.
They make the same argument, driven by extremist media, to achieve the same result. Destroy the Government.
They may want to see different things replace it, but far Left Populists and Far Right Populists are operational allies in our current political environment.
Marianne expressed that very clearly in one of the sentences of her essay.
It’s not so much as to destroy the establishment. It is pointedly an effort at creating, food insecurity, labor shortages with a long-term goal of anarchy and complete societal disruption.
Every single policy he has espoused, every person he has named, we have negative real world effect on life in America, imagine their synergy ….
You need to lay off the mushrooms and weed. That might be the most ass backward thinking I’ve seen lately. “ long term goal of anarchy…” how in hell could you possibly draw such a conclusion?
What ever is the matter with all these self serving Yankees who have been on the pigs back for so long that they forgotten how to fiend for themselves. You are only facing what everyone else on the entire planet is going through! What do we do? We become as self sufficient as we can, we eat out less, we go without the extras...just what normal productive people do. You are all going to feel so sorry for yourselves and it will.impact the rest of us too.
Until Trump messes up - or someone else offers a better alternative - he has the stage and he has the power. But so do we. Let’s not shut up. For the sake of all of us, I hope for the best.
Thanks, Marrianne, for this optimistic viewpoint that until Trump messes up - or someone else offers a better alternative - he has the stage and he has the power. But so do we. Let’s not shut up. For the sake of all of us, I hope for the best. I, too, hope for the best.
What Trump's picks so far qualify as ""taking a hammer to the establishment/machine"? Very arguably, Gabbard and Ramaswamy for "exotic" positions? As far as I can see he is pretty much just "returning" Miriam Adelson her $100 million donation appointing rabid Zionists...
Although I’ve been a 29 year fan of your spiritual wisdom, I am not a fan of your political writings these past several months. Your anger and resentment (like mine) are palpable, but I expect more from you as a spiritual teacher and leader.
I don't see her as resentful, she is critical of the Dems for sure and has felt the sting of how she was treated. I don't think spiritual means one can't name something with force . In Buddhism the sword of truth is a powerful element
I understand how you feel about this. When her political writings get to me, I go back to three of the books she wrote that do the most for me: Illuminata, Everyday Grace and A Year of Miracles (especially the 3rd one). I try to apply what I see there to the discomfort I see in her words, detach from my reaction so she can be herself and I can sit comfortably with myself, then ask "What part of what I just read can I apply to this thought - feeling - impulse to act - right now?" I use the spiritual teachings to address my political distress.
Sometimes I can uncover a bias, or some petty grievance in my reaction. For that I try to apply The Course to the internal wound and I pray to allow both of us to be humans, following our best internal guidance, doing the best we can in life.
This process allows me to keep my love and admiration for Marianne alive, while taking responsibility for my perceptions, emotional reactions and actions.
I believe it's what Marianne asks for from her readers and lecture listeners.
It's the internal work - the Yin aspect - that partners the external work - the Yang - of politics.
I take that final understanding from her Healing the Soul of America. <heart>
I appreciate your lengthy response. I love Marianne too. I am working on my own internal responses to this horrific election. Hearing such strong criticism of the Dems in this election is painful. “Everyone “ is doing it. I was heartened after HRC lost in 2016 by Marianne’s spiritual leadership. I do not think the economy is the sole reason for this year’s loss. Trump has awakened the darkness in millions of people, giving them permission to express this darkness openly. Healing the loss of my vision of the goodness of my fellow Americans is my first goal, and then moving forward to salvage what can be saved in the next 4 years is next. Again, thanks for the food for thought you offered.
Marianne you are unbelievably good at taking in what is happening and naming it. And I don’t like it any more than you do but I do trust that change comes and I hold out to be a loving resource in all scenarios. And I am building my power every day. I am going to need to see clearly as I truly know that my strength is in my conviction that I am one with true power, and, I am building the strength of my convictions as I may be tested in that knowing any day now. Amen sister. I am so dang proud of you. 🙏
Once again, Bravo! You're one in 8 billion, Marianne. Keep talking. America is listening! 🙏💜
Opening minds with wisdom… thank you Marianne! ❤️
I love seeing your name here Melissa. Let'r reconnect. ;)
I appreciate your empathy, Marianne. We must recognize how important empathy is right now for us all: it is actually a "super" power. For when we practice empathy, it allows us to grow inside, to become more generous, to mature emotionally, to experience even greater restraint, and to arrive at greater objectivity. Moreover, empathy has the power to melt hardened hearts.
Both the Democrats and also the for-profit media have largely ignored how many ordinary Americans are struggling to pay their basic bills now. But that is not the full story...
We live in the most materialistic nation in the world, the US. Our nation is relatively young, and thus immature. We have yet to learn fairness, so since our nation's founding there has been economic disparity. While we like to flatter ourselves that we are a meritocracy, we fail to acknowledge that people are not born to families with the same access to resources and privilege. By not recognizing it, we imagine that it is just "natural" that some children go to overcrowded schools and may never learn to read or write adeptly, while others will receive tutoring and mentors and diverse opportunities for self-enrichment. (Lack if educational opportunities leave both many inner city children and rural children disadvantaged.) So it is important to recognize that gross economic disparity is not merely unjust. It threatens our democracy.
All of us need to become better educated in the true sense of the word, and to be afforded more time to achieve this. Perhaps we say we don't have the time for this. But we could reduce the work week to 30 hours, which would allow for more time for both leisure and self-improvement, time with one's family and friends, as well as time for increased civic engagement--which is essential should we want to live in a democracy. The sociologist Jeremy Rifkin wrote about how the government could devise incentives to motivate corporations to cut their workers' hours without reducing their pay--which would also allow more workers to be hired, reducing unemployment.
We can also consider what we each might do to better the situation we find ourselves in, in simple ways. For example, we could choose to take more time to get to know people in our communities and across the nation; truly we need to grow more open-hearted and curious about those who are different from us.
Personally though, I do not believe these antidotes to our society's ills (such as increased empathy, restraint, and curiosity) are what Trump is offering us. What he is promising is a government that is even more imperfect than the last, one that is much more cruel and vindictive perhaps than we have ever seen before. He's not at all interested in addressing ordinary Americans' unmet needs. And he certainly is disinterested in resolving gross economic disparity. Rather he will reward those who flatter him, who do him favors, and who increase his sense of invulnerability. He will reward the ultra-wealthy who have backed him and he will scapegoat the most vulnerable. How do I know this? He already is doing it. He did it during his first term. By increasing polarization, moreover, he deviates the Public's focus away from the true causes of the most pressing problems of our time.
Should Trump successfully dismantle the government as he has promised (eviscerating the minimal laws that presently restrict the Wealthy and regulate corporations from exploiting workers or polluting our environment), who then will protect the People and the environment?
Personally, I would describe Trump and too many of the Americans (i.e., many of the Maga Republicans, along with the billionaires, the media moguls, and the weapons industry etc.) as not merely foolhardy. I would underscore that those who steal society's goods and dismantle its protections are trolls, cynics and saboteurs par excellence. They use cunning to undermine and destabilize others. And they treat it like a game, when really it is pathological.
So what can we responsible individuals do now--before January and in the near future?
1. We can extend ourselves and express interest and kindness to all people we meet. And we can stretch our capacity to be empathic.
2. We can resist succumbing to fear and hatred. We achieve this by recognizing that such negative emotions accomplish nothing. Moreover they feed people's worst qualities and breed violence.
3. We can choose 1 subject or issue that is important to us. We can schedule some time daily or weekly to research it, to deepen our understanding. And we can find opportunities to speak or write about what we have rigorously studied, to help or educate others.
4. We can volunteer our time to better the world in response to what we know. (Change may seem slow or invisible, but we empower ourselves when we choose to get more involved).
5. Perhaps most importantly, we can mobilize.
Time is of the essence now considering the diverse, urgent and important issues impacting all of us. Truly it is a privilege to be alive!
Seize the Day!
Nice Ariane. What do you make of Trumps appointment if Kennedy and saying he will get rid of pesticides herbicidies and make food healthy. It seems at complete odds with every other policy and appointment?
Chris: I too am happy should Kennedy actually get the job done on pesticides, herbicides and make food healthy. Maybe even addressing forever chemicals in our water supply (PFAS). EPA sets standards. However, EWG.org offers more stricter guidelines. I thought we did some of that health food with the new pyramid food chart. 'The China Study' publication indicates and Standard American Diet (SAD), is not so good to say the least! Kennedy might make some moves. It still might not bring cost of food down because companies just reduce packaging and not reduce price of good food. His anti-vacination position might cause childhood eradicated disease to return (Polio, measles, chicken pox, etc). Sure choice is freedom. However, when that choice might infect and harm fellow human beings, especially school aged children), will those parents that choose not to vaccinate accept responsibility that their child infected someone else's child? As I recall, statistics of in hospital Covid19 admissions were majority of patients that did not vaccinate. Those vaccinated may have experienced Covid symptoms that did not require vaccination. In conclusion it's not a partisan to want the Right to Clean and Healthy Water. It's also not partisan to observe Wisdom, Love and Generosity vs. Ignorance, Hate, and Greed. It's gonna be some ride for next 4 years. Hopeful or not hopeful.
Studies show that children who have never been vaccinated are much healthier than children who have been vaccinated. This has been a censored fact for years. I’m confident that RFK Jr will show this data. Hopefully now the censorship will end and Americans will be able to more easily see this fact. The lie that people who are unvaccinated were more likely to be hospitalized or die from Covid will also be exposed. Many studies have shown this. RFK Jr is also aware that there has been an unexplained significant increase in all cause mortality deaths since 2021 in countries where the population had a high rate of Covid vaccine uptake, particularly among younger individuals. I hope he will tackle figuring out why this is true. If the Trump administration is able to go back to our policy of not allowing pharma advertising in media possibly mainstream news will be able to actually report on these subjects instead of being controlled by big pharma. I’m looking forward to the changes that will happen with the new administration. I pray for the safety of President Trump and RFK Jr. because there are a lot of corrupt people who don’t want to lose their power.
Here is uncensored study supporting your position regarding children. Easily available. Study does conclude a more larger populations study be is recommended.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7268563/ AND here is study regarding Covid easily available:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9848037/
Indeed 'Patients vaccinated for COVID-19 had reduced mortality, especially for obese/severely obese and older individuals. Vaccination’s protective effect against mortality declined over time and hospitalized obese and older individuals may derive especially great benefit from prior vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.'
I appreciate the respectful discussion here. I just also want to point out that it's my understanding RFK is not anti-vax, he's anti-mandate and pro-good-science. Anti-vax is the short-cut derogatory label the pro-Covid-vax establishment pushed to malign, denigrate, and de-platform RFK and others who dared speak up against the Covid vaccination mandates. As someone who had a significant adverse reaction to the second Covid vaccination, I began to listen to others who were either harmed or were too health-compromised to even consider getting the Covid vaccination. They were shunned, belittled, and basically run-over ruthlessly. Talk about one's autonomy and sovereignty over our own bodies and lives.. If nothing else, RFK could now get a real and robust conversation out to the mainstream. Prayers anyhow.
There is much good to say about Kennedy's work with the Children's Defense Fund. Pesticides are poisoning our air, water, and soil--and thus our food. They should be severely curtailed and natural solutions, many that have long existed, need to be implemented.
We all need to be protected from ravenous corporations, but also the Americans and Congress must mature beyond impulsivity and favoring convenience. We need a change in priorities nationwide.
I am hopeful that potent, "alternative" therapies will become more widespread and more readily used in the future, which includes homeopathy. That being said, I am concerned about Kennedy's extreme stance on certain issues, which includes his condemning all vaccines, including those that have been proven effective for decades, such as the small pox and polio vaccines.
It is important to remember that Jonas Salk relinquished the patent rights to the polio vaccine, stating that the vaccine he created belonged to ALL people. Truly, we need more politicians of this caliber (not only scientists and intellectuals but also those more spiritually evolved).
Ariane: It use to be the 'World Bankers' annually siting off the English Coastline many years past. Now it's the 'owners' of USA (Koch Brothers, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others) that make sure voters are just educated enough to vote for whom they want in the Presidential Office. Dems propaganda of 'the borders are safe', the economy is doing great (did not have any clue that people are experiencing putting food on table). Sure if you are a new-liberal and/or CEO of stock and bonds holder receiving dividend checks from your stocks and bonds you're doing fantastic now. However as stocks and bonds go up, the only thing for profit business may cut is workers wages (corporations have to pay utlities and upkeep on property and rent). The beauty of working class voters and people whom say they care about working class is like a boxing match. Two boxers banging each others brains out while the promoter walks away with the BIGGEST purse! The 'owners' are going to be given sweet government contracts while the homeless, vulnerable are being blamed among others.
There have been so many of us, for such a long time, working to transform and evolve the political-economic system, so that things would NOT come to this scary place... and they have. And here we are... AND, there is still hope, "hope in the dark" (Solnit)... THANK YOU for all your efforts, Marianne, and also, thank you to all of the organizers and activists way back when, who educated and protested against NAFTA, the "free trade" agreement that let all the factories flee and the good jobs disappear... and THANK YOU, more recently, to all of the people who supported Bernie in his efforts to turn things around, and who were also tremendously disappointed...
AND, we don't always lose, though sometimes it can feel that way! so here's a huge THANK YOU to all of those humans who succeeded in significant ways over the decades, whom we don't often acknowledge... folks whose dedication and struggle gained what was, once upon a time --before the "double shift" became a necessity for so many of us -- the 5-day work week and the 8 hour work day and the overtime and the unions and the rapidly-disappearing middle class...
and back to the present, THANK YOU to all of the people who organized and activated to have this election turn out differently, even while knowing that this was only the first step... AND, AND, AND,.... much gratitude for all of us who are doing our best to understand and learn from, why things have turned out as they did. I don't think I'm the only one, with family members who voted differently... AND, AND, AND.... What to do with our anger, and the grief and fear that are usually underneath?
Along those lines I was deeply moved by the recent video of how some indigenous / First Nations members of Parliament in New Zealand, have responded to current bad-faith attempt to wipe out the treaty signed way back when, by passing a new bill saying "we are going to treat everyone the same" (meaning, sorry, no 'special privileges' for all those folks we invaded, whose lands we took and whose homes we destroyed....) TRIGGER WARNING... the video may be cathartic, AND, it's intense: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/freda-wells-aaabb78_antiracism-colonialism-activity-7262887527622017024-XrfK?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
May we all find ways to transform our rage into fierce protection for all the vulnerable ones, the children and mothers and older folks and winged ones and ocean ones and four-footed ones and rooted ones, as ALL life is vulnerable, AND, paradoxically, all life is also, tremendously powerful... “For great as the powers of destruction may be, greater still are the powers of healing”.
Wish I had the time to be worried about New Zealand natives. This kind of misguided empathy just tends to distract the uninformed in all directions. Mean while, change is at the moment.
"I don’t care that Trump is taking a hammer to the machine. Democrats should have taken one to it long ago. Too many people who voted Democrat in the past feel they tried and tried. Now, in their despair, they are willing to try something else.
I don’t agree with their political calculation, but I respect their yearning."
I loved this post, Marianne, maybe more than any other. "The economy" largely works for those whose wealth is tied to wheeling and dealing in stocks, were able to buy a home a long time ago with their educations already paid for and the inherited family wealth to do so.
The politicians wheeling and dealing in stocks, especially in corporations that profit from making implements that mass-murder people, sell peoples' personal information--unregulated-- and track them everyplace but the toilet--unregulated-- are part of this privileged cohort, and they sure as hell don't understand the real economy or even real life. Between twelve and thirteen million registered Democrats who voted in solidarity in 2020 chose to sit this one out in 2024 for good reason. Trump won with fewer votes than he got when he lost in 2020. His base didn't change but that of Democrats shrunk so much that Trump won the popular vote by twice Hillary's 2016 popular vote.
And calling their constituents "antisemitic" who won't cheer-lead for a genocide with the mindless "vote blue no matter who" mantra and who feel fear and alarm from an administration too f'ing weak to tell Bibi Netanyahu he cannot run our nation, our universities, or order our militarized police to use lethal force against our children of college age who embarrass him by nonviolently protesting his Zionist gangsters' ethnic cleansing--- that SHOULD cost them lots of constituents' votes.
I don't agree that Trump intends to make things better for us and may well plan to make slavery an equal-opportunity profession for citizens of any skin color, but I do understand a vote voicing desperation with a status quo intent on doing much the same, purposely refusing to hear and PRETENDING otherwise. Even their partisan stooges could see the pretense.
"Between twelve and thirteen million registered Democrats who voted in solidarity in 2020 chose to sit this one out in 2024 for good reason. Trump won with fewer votes than he got when he lost in 2020. His base didn't change but that of Democrats shrunk so much that Trump won the popular vote by twice Hillary's 2016 popular vote." Ouch that stings. Thank you for this, I learned a few things from your comment
Maybe those 12 to 13 million voters you mention didn’t exist, except in the unsupervised manipulation of votes
??? You are on this site as a conspiracy theorist? The 2020 vote count was the most verified in history. He lost. Period.
I mean you could totally be right. Wasn't it also covid? People might have worried about that
I mean, I usually listen to what you say but I can't wrap my head around any of this. Weren't the last four years a lot better than the pandemic, the insurrection and Christian Nationalism?
Maybe read it again please?
Marianne, You left out Trump's reinforcement of the established elite, so maybe that's why the "smashing" feels less easy to celebrate.
Lack of critical thinking and discernment left many of Trump's infamously "poorly educated" yearning to be led by an authoritarian who they fervently believe will deliver on RFK's MAHA mission without noticing the bigotry and hatred trump espouses or the lack of social (and medical) safety net plans.
Additionally, trump doesn't believe in small business (at least not the one's he bankrupted), overtime pay, worker's rights, healthcare for all, effective migrant-worker arrangements or that the disabled and elderly have meaning in his world. When you don't mention just a smidge of that, your missives almost seem to praise him.
Yes, expose the Democratic Party for their errors, but please don't whitewash Trump's hate-speach stump and lack of concern for humanity. RFK's fervor aside, Trump has very little to offer many of those who voted him into the President-elect position.
Well, you are wrong is so many ways I won’t even attempt to discuss. “ T Trump has very little to offer….” Is an irresponsible statement.
I just wish people would stop drinking the political kool laid to form their opinions on candidates and/or their supporters. The talking points are stale and condescending. And the propensity to stereotype more than half of Americans as poorly educated, low intellect is plain bullying, and untrue. The Democrat elite are more racially motivated and authoritarian than anyone. Not to mention a threat to democracy with their latest shenanigans. Most of the descriptive language you used apply more to them. That is why I am an independent now. And why I voted for a Republican for president for the first time. It is time for a change and that is what I voted for in this election. I agree with Marianne, it will not be pretty, but it is necessary. Let’s give it a chance and see what happens. I have hope that this happened for an important reason…I trust the universe. We don’t need to be sheep, we should do our own even handed research and use our intelligence with or without a degree.
For anyone that believes the last four years were better than the first Trump administration please widen your search for news beyond the corporate mainstream media.
I thought they were better. Though they didn't roll back a lot of damage Trump did, and they didn't put the country on a moral footing again (immigration, genocide). Maybe you stand in a different position than I do. I never read corporate news, only leftist.)
They were much better, but for Marianne, they were not Bernie enough.
She doesn't and can't see the many ways Biden was a superior President and Kamala Harris was the actual hope of the nation. She is also dismissing the power of Right Wing Media lies, and the racism they exploited to get deregulation in place that would make them MILLIONS.
Discontent with Biden not being everybody's Santa Claus RIGHT NOW and - again - the many ways racism has ingrained itself into every facet of American society led to this result... not a lack of Democratic Socialist policies fueled by a magical shearing of defense spending.
The Bernie Agenda may seem popular to those who believe in it, but the numbers tell the tale. People want centrist policies, a stable government, and less public rancor, which they will certainly not get under Trump. But he will fulfill Marianne's 2024 campaign agenda to #DisruptTheCorrupt. And it's worth noting that two of the people Marianne has seen as peers in being dismissed by the Democratic Party are now meaningfully positioned in the Trump Administration. So I see the "silver lining" for her, even though I believe it's a mirage.
Watch the new documentary by Jenner Furst called Thank You Dr. Fauci if you want to begin seeing some of what has been going on in this country for years. Then reassess your thoughts on the Biden Harris administration
Thanks for the suggestion.
I choose to use my time differently.
Im sure you do. The eco chamber you have your head stuck in must be getting very noisy by now
🙏 ❤ 🙏
Have a good day.
No, they weren't.
You can’t be serious
I respect Marianne. Folks like she and Bill Maher have come to the conclusion that the reason Trump got elected was because 75 million Americans are in economic despair? That's a bunch of bullcrap pardon my French. There are so many quite well off folks voting for Trump and I don't mean the one percent. They come from all of the percents of economic situations. What Marianne is missing or doesn't address. I would love to have a conversation with her if you're listening!, Is the propaganda an information bubble that so many people live in. That combined with the completely low information voters that don't even care to look for the information. All I have to do is ask who is secretary of State. These people have no idea. That's just a example I pluck. They don't understand that Barack Obama for instance had a Nobel prize-winning nuclear physicist as Secretary of energy and Donald Trump picked Governor Rick Perry of Texas to take over the position. They don't understand that with authoritarianism comes complete incompetence. We have a problem with education in this country. We have a problem with propaganda and corporate media ownership in this country. This shit about everybody who voted for Trump can't afford bacon narrative is driving me fucking nuts!
Several things can be true at the same time, you know. What you said is true and what I said is true as well.
Look at the states that went Dem. Only the northeast and the west coast--BY FAR the richest areas of the country. The Dems are now the party of the wealthy elites. It's obvious by the voting pattern. It has nothing to do with education or information. People have all the education and information they need to understand that the bicoastal elites will drive this country straight into hell as long as their Zestimate keeps going up.
I completely agree.
Bernie Democrats agreeing with the GOP narrative about Democrats Don't Care About Your Pain At The Kitchen Table is called The Horseshoe Effect.
They make the same argument, driven by extremist media, to achieve the same result. Destroy the Government.
They may want to see different things replace it, but far Left Populists and Far Right Populists are operational allies in our current political environment.
Marianne expressed that very clearly in one of the sentences of her essay.
It’s not so much as to destroy the establishment. It is pointedly an effort at creating, food insecurity, labor shortages with a long-term goal of anarchy and complete societal disruption.
Every single policy he has espoused, every person he has named, we have negative real world effect on life in America, imagine their synergy ….
You need to lay off the mushrooms and weed. That might be the most ass backward thinking I’ve seen lately. “ long term goal of anarchy…” how in hell could you possibly draw such a conclusion?
Look at the policies. You’re a fucking idiot. Layoff the bootleg rotgut vodka and quit sucking Putin’s cock.
Do you have anything but ad hominem bullshit and uncorrelated gibberish? Figures
Except for the very rich.
What ever is the matter with all these self serving Yankees who have been on the pigs back for so long that they forgotten how to fiend for themselves. You are only facing what everyone else on the entire planet is going through! What do we do? We become as self sufficient as we can, we eat out less, we go without the extras...just what normal productive people do. You are all going to feel so sorry for yourselves and it will.impact the rest of us too.
Brilliant, thank you.
I felt this. Thank you.
Literally just had a very similar conversation with my mom when she came to me gobsmacked at what he was doing.
Until Trump messes up - or someone else offers a better alternative - he has the stage and he has the power. But so do we. Let’s not shut up. For the sake of all of us, I hope for the best.
Thanks, Marrianne, for this optimistic viewpoint that until Trump messes up - or someone else offers a better alternative - he has the stage and he has the power. But so do we. Let’s not shut up. For the sake of all of us, I hope for the best. I, too, hope for the best.
God bless you now and forever.
What Trump's picks so far qualify as ""taking a hammer to the establishment/machine"? Very arguably, Gabbard and Ramaswamy for "exotic" positions? As far as I can see he is pretty much just "returning" Miriam Adelson her $100 million donation appointing rabid Zionists...
I know. Ain’t it grand? Long live Israel
Although I’ve been a 29 year fan of your spiritual wisdom, I am not a fan of your political writings these past several months. Your anger and resentment (like mine) are palpable, but I expect more from you as a spiritual teacher and leader.
I don't see her as resentful, she is critical of the Dems for sure and has felt the sting of how she was treated. I don't think spiritual means one can't name something with force . In Buddhism the sword of truth is a powerful element
I agree with naming something with force, but the sting is what I’m referring to.
I understand how you feel about this. When her political writings get to me, I go back to three of the books she wrote that do the most for me: Illuminata, Everyday Grace and A Year of Miracles (especially the 3rd one). I try to apply what I see there to the discomfort I see in her words, detach from my reaction so she can be herself and I can sit comfortably with myself, then ask "What part of what I just read can I apply to this thought - feeling - impulse to act - right now?" I use the spiritual teachings to address my political distress.
Sometimes I can uncover a bias, or some petty grievance in my reaction. For that I try to apply The Course to the internal wound and I pray to allow both of us to be humans, following our best internal guidance, doing the best we can in life.
This process allows me to keep my love and admiration for Marianne alive, while taking responsibility for my perceptions, emotional reactions and actions.
I believe it's what Marianne asks for from her readers and lecture listeners.
It's the internal work - the Yin aspect - that partners the external work - the Yang - of politics.
I take that final understanding from her Healing the Soul of America. <heart>
I appreciate your lengthy response. I love Marianne too. I am working on my own internal responses to this horrific election. Hearing such strong criticism of the Dems in this election is painful. “Everyone “ is doing it. I was heartened after HRC lost in 2016 by Marianne’s spiritual leadership. I do not think the economy is the sole reason for this year’s loss. Trump has awakened the darkness in millions of people, giving them permission to express this darkness openly. Healing the loss of my vision of the goodness of my fellow Americans is my first goal, and then moving forward to salvage what can be saved in the next 4 years is next. Again, thanks for the food for thought you offered.
Thank You
Ellen
Marianne you are unbelievably good at taking in what is happening and naming it. And I don’t like it any more than you do but I do trust that change comes and I hold out to be a loving resource in all scenarios. And I am building my power every day. I am going to need to see clearly as I truly know that my strength is in my conviction that I am one with true power, and, I am building the strength of my convictions as I may be tested in that knowing any day now. Amen sister. I am so dang proud of you. 🙏