Dr. Malone and Jill: the breadth of your intellect and consummate writing are truly a wonder to behold.
I had the great privilege of taking a class with Sheldon Wolin at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He had not yet written his book "Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism" …
Dr. Malone and Jill: the breadth of your intellect and consummate writing are truly a wonder to behold.
I had the great privilege of taking a class with Sheldon Wolin at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He had not yet written his book "Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism" Instead we read his classic " Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought." I am and was then training to be a musician but I truly can say that Wolin and this man's extraordinary breadth and clarity of thought changed me for life. We also read (it was the height of the Vietnam War) in this class the My Lai Massacre and wrestled with what could lead to this horrendous act. I always thought our country would never stray away from some sort of basic decent values the way it did with Vietnam but really where we are now is SO much worse.
I will also always be grateful to Wolin for another reason. When I asked him directly, my young 21 year old self, how does one have a right to be a musician when the world needs so much.? I had already been against and marched against the Vietnam war since high school and Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed in my last year of high school. Wolin answered that if there is a revolution then there always is that that needs to be preserved and cultivated and saved -such as great music, great writing, great art....great architecture, the earth and nature and all living creatures.
Chris Hedges has a series of interviews with Sheldon Wolin near the end of his life-in his 90's I believe. I am inspired by what you wrote today, Dr. Malone, to return to Wolin's writings. Thank you.
So this is the miracle of our times and the miracle of substack conversation-it has been years since Wolin has been part of a conversation that I have been part of. That you, Dr. Robert Malone, corroborate the words of Wolin about art and music means more to me than I can say.
I do believe that we are creating something that will end up having a new and extraordinary power. It is as if we are weaving something......I watched a lot of Tess Lawrie's "A Better Way" conference. This conference and the speaking there symbolize for me this weaving together. I'm still thinking about how we musicians can contribute in a concrete way to the tapestry.
In the spirit of the exhortation of Mattias Desmet I, Rachel Goodwin, am becoming a bit less anonymous here on substack by adding my first name but still find that as a musician I have to think carefully about timing and place where I can speak the truths that you, Dr. Malone, have done so much to bring forth. We performers have to be very strategic and careful in speaking. It's something like professional sports but it isn't much talked about yet...For instance I know that Union musicians have to be fully vaccinated to perform, at least here in Boston. I'm a pianist and pianists don't generally belong to the Union because we are not part of orchestras.....thus I am freer to chose but it's a lonely position where I have to hide my vaxx status in order to continue in my chosen career. My colleagues and board members would not even begin to understand, let alone my family members who are in the arts. I have had to miss going to many concerts because I am not vaccinated. I have family members who are afraid to see me.
I draw a lot of strength from people who understand to their core what we are now all caught in, like Vera Sharev.
The "vaxx-free" (sounds better than unvaxxed, I believe) solitary path I understand very well. I live in Italy where the government made a determined push against those over-50s who had not yet taken the shots by January this year. As a person recovered from C19 since March 2020, whatever remote possibility (and it was remote, I assure you) that I might have been persuaded onboard got flushed down the toilet at that moment. I've had the first polite letter from the State asking me why not and I've replied, equally politely, that I don't need it. We will see now where the process takes us.
Last winter, despite the losses in Bergamo in March/April 2020, the percentage of older people without the shots in Italy remained significantly higher than elsewhere. By April this year, despite the penalties, 80% of those targetted had not changed their mind, a significant embarrassment for the government.
There was a period in spring when I couldn't go in a bar or restaurant or couldn't sit outside a bar. I couldn't go in a gardware store or anywhere, in fact, except a grocery store and a pharmacy. 6 of us drove around 600kms each way to a protest in Rome one Sunday knowing that any kind of breakdown or accident would leave us stranded because we couldn't stay in a hotel or take public transport.
On a brighter note, I sat outside a local bar one evening in February, wrapped up against the cold while waiting to pick a couple of pizzas to take home. The barman spotted me waiting and came out with a glass of wine. With a wink and a large smile, he said it's my gift to you, it's free, so we're not breaking the rules!
I agree, I am about 1/2 way through. I didn't like his demonizing the 2000 election as I thought while the outcome may have been almost arbitrary (hanging chads etc...) due to the vote adjudication process, at least the process was televised and transparent. I am sure his perspective was fueled by what followed - the patriot act, an unjust war, excess spending etc... . I am a true believer in his written words and he is spot-on.
This is our #1 issue. We cannot rank anything higher than this issue. It is an issue we can and should all agree on. All political sides and all people.
It is like having a computer that has been hacked and corrupted. When we sit here arguing about hot button issues that is like arguing about what programs run better on the corrupted computer. NONE of them run better. Not until we fix the system. We have to put all of our attention on focusing the ACTUAL SYSTEM first. It's not that hard to do actually. We just need a movement. A decentralized one. And a plan.
Dr. Malone identifies the problem, but what is the solution? Our systems have been corrupted by regulatory capture and special interest groups - we can't expect the system to fix itself. We need a NEW idea. One that makes the old one obsolete.
If our problem is systemic corruption the best cure is radical FORCED TRANSPARENCY.
This is our #1 issue. We cannot rank anything higher than this issue. It is an issue we can and should all agree on. All political sides and all people. I
It is like having a computer that has been hacked and corrupted. When we sit here arguing about hot button issues that is like arguing about what programs run better on the corrupted computer. NONE of them run better. Not until we fix the system. We have to put all of our attention on focusing the ACTUAL SYSTEM first. It's not that hard to do actually. We just need a movement. A decentralized one. And a plan.
Dr. Malone identifies the problem, but what is the solution? Our systems have been corrupted by regulatory capture and special interest groups - we can't expect the system to fix itself. We need a NEW idea. One that makes the old one obsolete.
If our problem is systemic corruption the best cure is radical FORCED TRANSPARENCY.
Dr. Malone and Jill: the breadth of your intellect and consummate writing are truly a wonder to behold.
I had the great privilege of taking a class with Sheldon Wolin at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He had not yet written his book "Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism" Instead we read his classic " Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought." I am and was then training to be a musician but I truly can say that Wolin and this man's extraordinary breadth and clarity of thought changed me for life. We also read (it was the height of the Vietnam War) in this class the My Lai Massacre and wrestled with what could lead to this horrendous act. I always thought our country would never stray away from some sort of basic decent values the way it did with Vietnam but really where we are now is SO much worse.
I will also always be grateful to Wolin for another reason. When I asked him directly, my young 21 year old self, how does one have a right to be a musician when the world needs so much.? I had already been against and marched against the Vietnam war since high school and Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed in my last year of high school. Wolin answered that if there is a revolution then there always is that that needs to be preserved and cultivated and saved -such as great music, great writing, great art....great architecture, the earth and nature and all living creatures.
Chris Hedges has a series of interviews with Sheldon Wolin near the end of his life-in his 90's I believe. I am inspired by what you wrote today, Dr. Malone, to return to Wolin's writings. Thank you.
I love the Hedges interviews! and Wolin is right - art and music is what must be cultivated and saved.
So this is the miracle of our times and the miracle of substack conversation-it has been years since Wolin has been part of a conversation that I have been part of. That you, Dr. Robert Malone, corroborate the words of Wolin about art and music means more to me than I can say.
I do believe that we are creating something that will end up having a new and extraordinary power. It is as if we are weaving something......I watched a lot of Tess Lawrie's "A Better Way" conference. This conference and the speaking there symbolize for me this weaving together. I'm still thinking about how we musicians can contribute in a concrete way to the tapestry.
In the spirit of the exhortation of Mattias Desmet I, Rachel Goodwin, am becoming a bit less anonymous here on substack by adding my first name but still find that as a musician I have to think carefully about timing and place where I can speak the truths that you, Dr. Malone, have done so much to bring forth. We performers have to be very strategic and careful in speaking. It's something like professional sports but it isn't much talked about yet...For instance I know that Union musicians have to be fully vaccinated to perform, at least here in Boston. I'm a pianist and pianists don't generally belong to the Union because we are not part of orchestras.....thus I am freer to chose but it's a lonely position where I have to hide my vaxx status in order to continue in my chosen career. My colleagues and board members would not even begin to understand, let alone my family members who are in the arts. I have had to miss going to many concerts because I am not vaccinated. I have family members who are afraid to see me.
I draw a lot of strength from people who understand to their core what we are now all caught in, like Vera Sharev.
Well, said, Rachel!
The "vaxx-free" (sounds better than unvaxxed, I believe) solitary path I understand very well. I live in Italy where the government made a determined push against those over-50s who had not yet taken the shots by January this year. As a person recovered from C19 since March 2020, whatever remote possibility (and it was remote, I assure you) that I might have been persuaded onboard got flushed down the toilet at that moment. I've had the first polite letter from the State asking me why not and I've replied, equally politely, that I don't need it. We will see now where the process takes us.
Last winter, despite the losses in Bergamo in March/April 2020, the percentage of older people without the shots in Italy remained significantly higher than elsewhere. By April this year, despite the penalties, 80% of those targetted had not changed their mind, a significant embarrassment for the government.
There was a period in spring when I couldn't go in a bar or restaurant or couldn't sit outside a bar. I couldn't go in a gardware store or anywhere, in fact, except a grocery store and a pharmacy. 6 of us drove around 600kms each way to a protest in Rome one Sunday knowing that any kind of breakdown or accident would leave us stranded because we couldn't stay in a hotel or take public transport.
On a brighter note, I sat outside a local bar one evening in February, wrapped up against the cold while waiting to pick a couple of pizzas to take home. The barman spotted me waiting and came out with a glass of wine. With a wink and a large smile, he said it's my gift to you, it's free, so we're not breaking the rules!
Forza e coraggio, Rachel!
I agree, I am about 1/2 way through. I didn't like his demonizing the 2000 election as I thought while the outcome may have been almost arbitrary (hanging chads etc...) due to the vote adjudication process, at least the process was televised and transparent. I am sure his perspective was fueled by what followed - the patriot act, an unjust war, excess spending etc... . I am a true believer in his written words and he is spot-on.
OUR SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED.
This is our #1 issue. We cannot rank anything higher than this issue. It is an issue we can and should all agree on. All political sides and all people.
It is like having a computer that has been hacked and corrupted. When we sit here arguing about hot button issues that is like arguing about what programs run better on the corrupted computer. NONE of them run better. Not until we fix the system. We have to put all of our attention on focusing the ACTUAL SYSTEM first. It's not that hard to do actually. We just need a movement. A decentralized one. And a plan.
Dr. Malone identifies the problem, but what is the solution? Our systems have been corrupted by regulatory capture and special interest groups - we can't expect the system to fix itself. We need a NEW idea. One that makes the old one obsolete.
If our problem is systemic corruption the best cure is radical FORCED TRANSPARENCY.
I beg all of you to read this:
https://joshketry.substack.com/p/what-we-need-is-a-transparency-movement
OUR SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED.
This is our #1 issue. We cannot rank anything higher than this issue. It is an issue we can and should all agree on. All political sides and all people. I
It is like having a computer that has been hacked and corrupted. When we sit here arguing about hot button issues that is like arguing about what programs run better on the corrupted computer. NONE of them run better. Not until we fix the system. We have to put all of our attention on focusing the ACTUAL SYSTEM first. It's not that hard to do actually. We just need a movement. A decentralized one. And a plan.
Dr. Malone identifies the problem, but what is the solution? Our systems have been corrupted by regulatory capture and special interest groups - we can't expect the system to fix itself. We need a NEW idea. One that makes the old one obsolete.
If our problem is systemic corruption the best cure is radical FORCED TRANSPARENCY.
I beg all of you to read this:
https://joshketry.substack.com/p/what-we-need-is-a-transparency-movement