In NYC in the 80s a homeless guy around Avenue A and 5th I think (or maybe it was further West -- probably) taught me about "360 Degrees of Knowledge" -- the idea is that if you live on the street your have to know what' s happening all around you. That's stuck with me since then. I've since learned that the human nervous system is actually two nervous systems klujed together; a jellyfish nervous system which is a net which information spreads out along, and a spinal-chord based nervous system which sends signals up to the brain and then back down to the rest of the body. I think the guy I was talking to was talking about that sort of jellyfish awareness. It's a real thing. I liked your piece about actual physical encounters with people. That's important.
It’s amazing how quickly two strangers can find common ground through face to face conversation. It’s encouraging how fast the plastic divisions on social media fall away in the presence of the spoken word given in kindness.
As an American living in Berlin, I can say that the sanity level is way higher here. I agree about taxi drivers- I‘ve had one here whip put a youtube video about why Germany prefers to pay in cash because he was so passionate about the issue- I was really grateful. In London, I had a driver who used to work for a Chinese Airline that had very early m exposure of COVID to the UK come in through Heathrow. They have some
of the best wisdom out there. Thank you for this post.
This is an interesting extension of your post on Physical Approach. I live in a small Aussie city where approach is easily avoided and so are taxis. I miss those detours and unexpected perspectives.
Mary. I appreciate your alarm. Really I do. It's a situation in which it feels like the country is against all the normal things we have agreed upon for so long. But I think one has to be careful about amplifying the alarm to a point which is no longer reasonable. Society is about keeping people together - emphasising the similarity. Once you start emphasising the difference between yourself and everyone else, you cut yourself off and move into a different bubble. Bubbles are weird and crazy. I hope that makes sense. :-)
I know what you mean. Maybe you are right. I don't want to be in a bubble. But I'm not sure what is reasonable anymore when it comes to alarm. I don't think I'm alarmist usually. For example, I don't believe in making abortion illegal but if I put myself in the mind of someone who believes the fetus is a child, well, I can see how they think its imperative to overturn Roe v Wade by any means necessary and don't think its automatically about hating women for them. Don't agree, but don't suspect those people of complex ulterior motives. Okay that's hard to be sure of as that topic is really deep, but what I'm saying is I don't see the other side as completely alien. I actually feel more strongly about environmental laws, that is a disaster imo. But I think if you for some inexplicable reason don't believe in climate change (I have a friend who doesn't) and feel like the economy is more important--huge mistake imo but again, the reason isn't beyond my comprehension. In neither case does a random person on other side look like someone I have to be afraid of on an immediate level. However the gun thing? Mass shootings every week for stretches, people being shot at grocery stores by a guy wearing body armor and children being blown to pieces in school and Republicans still don't want more gun restrictions? On assault weapons? Maybe what I said was irresponsible on a short blog post like this so I take your point but--I can't see any reason for that which isn't scary as hell. Esp with the existence of militias and people actually saying they need to be heavily armed in order to defend themselves against the government? So when the taxi driver turned around and said that in such a heart-felt way--and he's a guy who really has reason to be concerned about easier gun access--it struck a hard chord. I hear you. There is too much terror-mongering everywhere, I could give many examples! I hope I did not contribute to that. I also hope I'm wrong to be afraid, I'd love to be wrong about that. We'll see I guess. Sorry if I've gone on too long, not sure about this comments thing, how it works best, trying it out. In any case I appreciate your courteous candor.
I'm a fan of your writing who is going to offer some perspective from a 'side' that is pro-gun.
Many of us saw our rights to bodily autonomy, freedom of expression, and freedom of association curtailed during the pandemic, by illegal mandates, and big-tech-and-big-pharma-in-collusion-with-gov't sponsored censorship. It is very interesting that the 'side' of "my body, my choice" when it comes to abortion, was also virulently "your body, my choice" when it came to things like mandated medical procedures, mandated masks, mandated lockdowns, mandated testing, all for a virus with a 98.5% survival rate for those not elderly, obese, or hypertensive, a virus for which cheap and effective early treatments were suppressed and/or painted as quackery.
The pro-choice-when-it-comes-to-abortion side was profoundly anti-choice-when-it-comes-to-experimental-medical-treatments, and in fact supportive of marginalizing members of society who did not want the so-called vaccines, to the point of denying them jobs, housing, and access to basic services.
Many who know more about 2A scholarship/practice than I do assert that it is only the presence of serious arms (assault weapons) in the hands of Americans that has kept and will keep the US free from Shanghai-style lockdowns, New-Zealand style quarantine camps, and biometric-social-credit-type health surveillance. This is an easy stance to paint as 'conspiracy' but it may also be: true.
Take away guns and we will just get more vans driven into crowds and stabbings (see: Britain).
The media likes to gin up fear, and focus on these outsize events, just like it likes any 'spectacle'. Far less flashy (to them) is, say, the daily gun violence in Chicago (even though the victims are largely persons of color, whom the media allegedly advocates for), or the millions of school kids who attend classes every day, unharmed (snooze). The media is as responsible for "domestic terrorism" as a school shooter, considering that it wants its viewers scared as well, and will always default to the representation that inspires the most anxiety. Please don't fall for it.
In NYC in the 80s a homeless guy around Avenue A and 5th I think (or maybe it was further West -- probably) taught me about "360 Degrees of Knowledge" -- the idea is that if you live on the street your have to know what' s happening all around you. That's stuck with me since then. I've since learned that the human nervous system is actually two nervous systems klujed together; a jellyfish nervous system which is a net which information spreads out along, and a spinal-chord based nervous system which sends signals up to the brain and then back down to the rest of the body. I think the guy I was talking to was talking about that sort of jellyfish awareness. It's a real thing. I liked your piece about actual physical encounters with people. That's important.
I'm just seeing this now. I'm not sure how it connects to the post but...somehow it does. Its fascinating and I believe it. Thanks!
Just returned from Prague. The better life is indeed, there.
It‘s so wonderful there, right? Gorgeous.
It’s amazing how quickly two strangers can find common ground through face to face conversation. It’s encouraging how fast the plastic divisions on social media fall away in the presence of the spoken word given in kindness.
It's a central European maxim. Fascists have long memories. Like murderers.
As an American living in Berlin, I can say that the sanity level is way higher here. I agree about taxi drivers- I‘ve had one here whip put a youtube video about why Germany prefers to pay in cash because he was so passionate about the issue- I was really grateful. In London, I had a driver who used to work for a Chinese Airline that had very early m exposure of COVID to the UK come in through Heathrow. They have some
of the best wisdom out there. Thank you for this post.
Only an eastern Or Central European can point to the dangers of a MAGA led coup.
This is an interesting extension of your post on Physical Approach. I live in a small Aussie city where approach is easily avoided and so are taxis. I miss those detours and unexpected perspectives.
Oh seriously man. These things are hardly ideal but you gotta be real. Try not to join the crazies. :-)
Hi, what do you mean by "the crazies"? I think I know but want to be sure before replying.
Mary. I appreciate your alarm. Really I do. It's a situation in which it feels like the country is against all the normal things we have agreed upon for so long. But I think one has to be careful about amplifying the alarm to a point which is no longer reasonable. Society is about keeping people together - emphasising the similarity. Once you start emphasising the difference between yourself and everyone else, you cut yourself off and move into a different bubble. Bubbles are weird and crazy. I hope that makes sense. :-)
I know what you mean. Maybe you are right. I don't want to be in a bubble. But I'm not sure what is reasonable anymore when it comes to alarm. I don't think I'm alarmist usually. For example, I don't believe in making abortion illegal but if I put myself in the mind of someone who believes the fetus is a child, well, I can see how they think its imperative to overturn Roe v Wade by any means necessary and don't think its automatically about hating women for them. Don't agree, but don't suspect those people of complex ulterior motives. Okay that's hard to be sure of as that topic is really deep, but what I'm saying is I don't see the other side as completely alien. I actually feel more strongly about environmental laws, that is a disaster imo. But I think if you for some inexplicable reason don't believe in climate change (I have a friend who doesn't) and feel like the economy is more important--huge mistake imo but again, the reason isn't beyond my comprehension. In neither case does a random person on other side look like someone I have to be afraid of on an immediate level. However the gun thing? Mass shootings every week for stretches, people being shot at grocery stores by a guy wearing body armor and children being blown to pieces in school and Republicans still don't want more gun restrictions? On assault weapons? Maybe what I said was irresponsible on a short blog post like this so I take your point but--I can't see any reason for that which isn't scary as hell. Esp with the existence of militias and people actually saying they need to be heavily armed in order to defend themselves against the government? So when the taxi driver turned around and said that in such a heart-felt way--and he's a guy who really has reason to be concerned about easier gun access--it struck a hard chord. I hear you. There is too much terror-mongering everywhere, I could give many examples! I hope I did not contribute to that. I also hope I'm wrong to be afraid, I'd love to be wrong about that. We'll see I guess. Sorry if I've gone on too long, not sure about this comments thing, how it works best, trying it out. In any case I appreciate your courteous candor.
I'm a fan of your writing who is going to offer some perspective from a 'side' that is pro-gun.
Many of us saw our rights to bodily autonomy, freedom of expression, and freedom of association curtailed during the pandemic, by illegal mandates, and big-tech-and-big-pharma-in-collusion-with-gov't sponsored censorship. It is very interesting that the 'side' of "my body, my choice" when it comes to abortion, was also virulently "your body, my choice" when it came to things like mandated medical procedures, mandated masks, mandated lockdowns, mandated testing, all for a virus with a 98.5% survival rate for those not elderly, obese, or hypertensive, a virus for which cheap and effective early treatments were suppressed and/or painted as quackery.
The pro-choice-when-it-comes-to-abortion side was profoundly anti-choice-when-it-comes-to-experimental-medical-treatments, and in fact supportive of marginalizing members of society who did not want the so-called vaccines, to the point of denying them jobs, housing, and access to basic services.
Many who know more about 2A scholarship/practice than I do assert that it is only the presence of serious arms (assault weapons) in the hands of Americans that has kept and will keep the US free from Shanghai-style lockdowns, New-Zealand style quarantine camps, and biometric-social-credit-type health surveillance. This is an easy stance to paint as 'conspiracy' but it may also be: true.
Take away guns and we will just get more vans driven into crowds and stabbings (see: Britain).
The media likes to gin up fear, and focus on these outsize events, just like it likes any 'spectacle'. Far less flashy (to them) is, say, the daily gun violence in Chicago (even though the victims are largely persons of color, whom the media allegedly advocates for), or the millions of school kids who attend classes every day, unharmed (snooze). The media is as responsible for "domestic terrorism" as a school shooter, considering that it wants its viewers scared as well, and will always default to the representation that inspires the most anxiety. Please don't fall for it.
One of my AA buddies said something extremely pertinent to me once. A devout reader of Slavoj Zizek, "All we have are our differences!"
Perahaps it is only because we are so similar that our differences can define us?
Eh, as Larry David always sez.