Month: September 2018

This post is going to be about vanity and how we all think we are more important to others than we are. Thanks to my online friend Barbara Torris for the idea. Here is her quote that brought on this post.
I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt that said, "Don't worry about what others think of you because they don't." It is good to remember that...the world is not looking at us most of the time.
Source: http://www.retireinstyleblog.com/2018/09/aging-when-is-rose-rose.html Sometime in my self-illusions, I see RJsCorner solving the world's problems. Well, not quite that extreme, but I do think I have some pretty serious views that will result in people storming the door of my corner to hear. In reality, I do have a couple hundred serious repeat viewers but I'm pretty sure they have no more influence in the scheme of things than I do.  RJsCorner could shut down tomorrow and the world would go on just the same without it. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a small dose of vanity. It is a serious part of our dreams and everyone should have dreams even if they do for the most part go unrealized. It's taking our vanity too seriously is what gets us gets in trouble. The perfect example of that is #CO3. I can't let this topic go by without mentioning one of my favorite female composers and singers of the 1970s and that is Carly Simon.  Her 1972 song "You're So Vain" immediately came to mind when I started thinking about his topic.  Let's close with a verse from that song: 2018-09-25_16-04-26.png Cackle Footer Banner   #CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant
2018-09-16_21-28-06.pngI often wonder how the rest of the world see those of us who are born in the US? Thanks to my new friend over at Eudaimonia and Co I am beginning to get a clearer view of that.
  • I know the rest of the world pretty much thinks all of us are obsessed with our guns to the point of being willing to sacrifice our kids in order to keep them.
  • I have known for a long time that most Europeans are fascinated by the junk and inferior products we Americans are willing to accept.
  • I know that during my visits to Canada they just can't understand why we put up with our grossly high-cost medical system and then deny people even that!
The words below put my thoughts on another level of the basic difference between our consumer-driven capitalism and the socialist models of it found in Europe and Scandinavia.
Americans don’t seem capable of processing, integrating, or accepting basic everyday realities about the world anymore. Not the ones from Harvard and Yale. Nor the ones from Kansas and Nebraska. Now, both of these tribes loathe one another. But whom does that leave, precisely? Go ahead and look around. What do you see. “The economy’s booming!” Wait — life expectancy’s falling. “Socialism’s too expensive!!” Uh, have you seen American healthcare prices?... Do you see what I see? A psychology that is totally, fatally, shatteringly disconnected from reality. Americans seem to need to take refuge in fabulous and grandiose myths, of how wonderful and special they are...
Source: Can Americans Process Reality? – Eudaimonia and Co Cackle Footer Banner

America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.  --  Alexis de Tocqueville

2018-08-15_09-19-32.pngIt has been a while since I last read "Democracy in America by de Tocqueville. I think his book written almost two centuries ago is as important in learning where we in America have been and where we are going as any on my bookshelf. I put a small bio here for those who don't know about him. I have read this book at least a half dozen times. The quote above was written in the early 1800s but at least until recently we have for the most part been "good". Have we been perfect? Of course not, but at least we have strived to be good. I hope that after the current period plays out we can return to a degree of civility, truthfulness, and empathy as a country.  But, will we ever be deemed "great" again? That is the question of the day. While our present government has shunned its responsibility to lead the way, much of the rest of the world continues without us. It is becoming more obvious as each year passes that global warming is a fact of life. Those who argue otherwise must be part of the flat-earth society. :) Sadly, with #CO3 in office, we have lost our leadership role in fighting climate change.  He says coal is the answer!  How archaic... and ignorant. But not to worry Europe and pretty much the rest of the world is jumping at the chance to become the new world leaders in this and many other areas.  Does it matter that the US is losing its dominant role in the world?  I kinda think there might be some good even come out of that fact. Cackle Footer Banner #CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant