Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities

[Abu Pepe]

Wonder how many Americans know who Voltaire was? I am guessing at least a third think its a Kardashian. We have fucked up and not maintained our own legends, who where great enlightenment thinkers. It leaves us culturally susceptible to isms. I dont know when we lost our gods but we did. And they were good ones.

Then sometimes I think America was always two countries. The Puritans and the Pilgrims are now the Republicans and Demos. One an Enlightened European nation and anothet a bunch of religious nuts really.

[FreepFryer]

1. We're one country and it's more than just two flavors of English white folks. E pluribus unum. (n/t)

[Abu Pepe]

2. Sytemically its European Liberalism (for now)

Some of its greatest practicioners have been its oppressed.The ability to participate seemed to be a slow rolling bumpy ongoing expansion. Too slow and the genocide of the Indigenous peoples is horrific. But none of that set us apart. Pretending to be better and faking it till we made seemed to be bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice.

Maybe we were. Maybe we can get our mojo back. But im not hopeful.

And think we are more of those two English countryfolk than is good, regardless of where your ancestors came from. Mine were not English and there are puritans and pilgrims all in one family. Gets weird around holidays. The puritans represent conservatism (social or political ) and the pilgrims really the country"s first liberals. One wanted religious freedom for all and the other for themselves. Its an extreme oversimplification.

[FreepFryer]

3. Thankfully others are able to see more, and cultivate hope, when they consider history's lessons.

[Abu Pepe]

4. Unfortunately we are becoming less

Taking on other less enlightened European ideas that came after the US had been around awhile. See 20th Century back again as farce.

[FreepFryer]

5. We are all so lucky to have you as our sole interpreter of history. What degree have you earned?

[Abu Pepe]

7. because thats totally what I said and you should be angry

because that exactly what I said. And my education amounts to a mere BA, though in History, from a state university that you wouldn't be impressed by so I wont bother with the name. Maintained about a 3.2 whle taking large amounts of LSD on a regular basis. Thats kind of cool still, I think. What else is there? Oh yeah I was there like five years working on that BA. So, it's really a Masters Degree if only time enrolled counted.

[FreepFryer]

9. I ask because your prose is poor, ur points unclear &/or inaccurate & you talk down to ur readers.

I don't have an opinion about the "large amounts of LSD on a regular basis" comment except I'm not sure why you feel the need to mention it.

[Abu Pepe]

10. Im writing with my thumb while eating ice cream

Any more questions my dear fan?

[FreepFryer]

11. LOL. Nope. You've said it all. (n/t)

[backtoblue]

6. Kick and rec

I think I get the premise, but you are too smart for me.
:

[Egnever]

8. Oddly enough there is a netflix show about that

it is called "the push"

it creates a scripted event around an unwitting person with the end result to see if they can manipulate someone to push another person off the side of a building.

The results were not pretty.

[ProudLib72]

12. If I may speak candidely, Voltaire was one of Ben Franklin's sobriquets

He earned it during his lightning phase. You see, he was trying to draw volts from the air. Simple as that, one of his observers coined the name. When Franklin heard the new nickname, he exclaimed, "That is the best of all possible nicknames".


Come to think of it, I was never required to read Voltaire. I found him on my own. For an English major, that is a rather disturbing revelation.

And here I will include an homage to your own nom de plume:

[Abu Pepe]

13. The second I created the account I remembered the racist frog.

People have honestly mistaken me for a. a freeper or b. way more clever than I am. Its actually an inside family joke going back years and and does involve Arabs and Mexicans all of us cousins. Way more to do with a cool summer back in the day than anything. Lots of guys named Jose (Pepe). That has to have created problems with usernames and such.

[ProudLib72]

15. For some strange reason, I read that as "Pere Ubu"

Paired with your mention of Voltaire, I hope that it is an understandable mistake.

[Abu Pepe]

16. lol thanks nt

[rsdsharp]

14. Uh, the Pilgrims

WERE Puritans. Ask Roger Smith.