I’ve been pretty hard on the US recently, but there are some slivers of hope. For instance, while the US as a whole is becoming a banana republic, Utah is one exception. In the current campaign for governor, both candidates agreed to run a civil campaign.
Razib Khan had an amusing tweet:
I’m kind of like that. I’m really shocked when I find out that people have lied to my face. Good to know that Mormons have a very high birth rate.
Lot’s of people are overreacting to the election. If Trump loses they’ll be overjoyed, and if he wins they’ll be on the edge of despair. Not me; I see Trump as a symptom of America’s banana republicization. Even if he loses, it won’t change the fact that our culture is deteriorating.
Look at the hysterical response from leftists when Senator Feinstein hugged Lindsey Graham after the recent Supreme Court hearings. I hate Graham’s personality as much as the next guy, but what kind of sick person criticizes a 87-year old woman for showing basic human decency to a Senate colleague? I mean just because you differ on politics . . .
Trump sees every one who disagrees with him as an evil person, but must we all become like Trump? Apparently so.
So I have little hope for our future, regardless of who’s elected.
Of course I’d much prefer Biden, who is as old school as Feinstein. But if the internet continues to degrade our culture then these polite old dinosaurs will soon pass from the scene. I’m so glad I won’t live to see the 2040s.
Here’s something else good about the US. While hate speech has gotten worse under Trump, I don’t see any big overall rise in racism in recent decades. In contrast, Asia is becoming a horror show. (And most Earthlings are Asian.) There’s a giant battle between a billion plus Muslims, a billion plus Han and a billion plus Hindus. Overt racism is increasing sharply across all of Asia. A WaPo article describes just one tiny example:
Rahul Gandhi, one of the key leaders of the Indian National Congress, recently tweeted that “the shameful truth is many Indians don’t consider Dalits [untouchables], Muslims and Tribals to be human.” The tweet sparked outrage, including from many liberals. The tweet came in the wake of the alleged gang rape and killing of a lower-caste young woman in the state of Uttar Pradesh by upper-caste men. Police officers burned the body of the victim in the hopes of making the story and justice vanish. The young woman’s parents were gagged from speaking to either the media or any political party, and members of the ruling party rallied in support of the accused. Gandhi hit a raw nerve and exposed the systemic hate against religious and caste minorities, whose women are the most vulnerable.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The human rights situation in “democratic” India has always been bad, but under Modi it’s becoming increasingly acceptable to be an outright bigot. Those who publicly support equality are physically attacked. And of course we all know about Uighurs in China and non-Muslims in the Middle East. Asia’s economy may grow, but the near-term future of human rights looks bleak. Hopefully, economic growth will eventually turn things around.
But that damn internet . . .