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Does America deserve to survive and thrive on into the future? We are facing a veritable climate catastrophe, yet our sense of alarm is about "3" on a scale of 1-10. Does that mean we deserve (morally) to suffer whatever fate the gods have in store for us, if you will? I am talking here about responsibility, wisdom, and proactivity. Bottom line: there really is no excuse; we are out of time; it's a climate catastrophe that should trump Trump, cultural disputes, and the status quo.

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There is a saying that passes as folk wisdom: ignorance is bliss. That is, if a person ignores information, facts, and wisdom (and remember that ignore comes from the same root word as ignorance, of course), or is otherwise benighted, misinformed, mentally lazy, or superstitious or biased to an adequate degree, then they will be happier, so it is claimed. Not so! I consider it dangerous, not a route to happiness. What follows are some thoughts I have about what a state of stupidity we humans seem to consistently find ourselves in. It's a species-wide flaw!

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I wish to make three points which, hopefully, will lead a reader to accept my conclusion. The premises are: a) Donald Trump is a very mentally ill individual, and probably fascistic and authoritarian and criminal in his heart; b) political extremism on the Right is out of control and untethered to reality or decency; and c) far-Right extremism is buoyed by a noxious media echo chamber, fueled by white supremacy, and these individuals don't seem to have much to lose. They are armed and they are endlessly aggrieved. The conclusion I draw is that America is facing unparalleled danger from far-Right extremists because they are buying this malarkey, have very little "reality-testing" (as psychiatrists call the ability to think critically and avoid delusional thinking), and are quite aggrieved. When combined with the fact that they tend to be armed and hostile and groupthink-y, it adds up to a powder keg of violent extremism.

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America has maximized human and societal potential in many ways �� we are truly a republic of great potential and productivity. Of course, being black, Holliday experienced an appalling side of America first-hand, one grossly shy of the beautiful principles on which it was founded. We are the best and the worst of everything in humanity. It is fair, recognizing slavery and poverty and vicious wealth inequality since ideals such as liberty, inclusion, democracy, and opportunity are unambiguously glorious values and aspirations we do treasure here. We must be truthful and integrate all our past and reconcile our darkness with our light. Anyway, Billie Holliday represented something special to many people, and I think the story of her song “Strange Fruit�� is quite relevant to the idea of integration �� both on a personal level, and certainly on a societal one.

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"I have never lost my faith to what seems to me is a materialism that leads nowhere—nowhere of value, anyway. I have never met a super-wealthy person for whom money obviated any of the basic challenges of finding happiness in the material world." 

Guess who wrote that in his 2020 memoir, now a New York Times bestseller? Perhaps surprising to you, it is none other than Val Kilmer.

His book is entitled I'm Your Huckleberry, a riff on the most notable quote in a movie chock-full of notable quotes: the 1993 cinematic wonder, Tombstone. Kilmer and Kurt Russell rewrote Kevin Jarre's screenplay fairly significantly, he claims, to help it pass muster with George P. Cosmatos, the demanding director of the film.

Since he was a boy, Val Kilmer lived twice as fast as anyone else, so what you have with this book is an honest and revealing memoir by a 120-year-old Hollywood titan. He probably tried harder in some of his films than anyone else who could be considered his equal. He loved and admired directors such as Tony Scott and Oliver Stone who were as intense and perfectionistic as he is/was. Indeed, like the ambitious and visionary Greek mytical figure Icarus, Kilmer's meteoric rise as an actor of astounding ability and his subsequent plummeting back down to the hard Earth are equally remarkable.

In Tinseltown, perhaps more than any other since Rome, only the strong survive, and no one—not an acting legend and not an Emperor—can outpace Time forever.

This blog will highlight twenty of the most remarkable quotes in the book.

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As Scott Atran and Jeremy Ginges noted in their article titled “Devoted Actors and the Moral Foundations of Intractable Intergroup Conflict,�� there are things known as sacred values and devoted actors. “Sacred values�� sounds uniformly good, right?

Unfortunately, the upsides of having a fervent belief in a particular religious viewpoint, or a willingness to stand up for one’s tribe or political faction, can be easily ruined by the potential downsides of holding certain values sacred. Why? Read on...

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As writer and attorney David Noise put it, "The gun massacres that occur on a weekly basis will no doubt lead to more discussion of several important and recurring issues in American culture—particularly racism and gun violence and mental instability/rage. However, these dialogues are unlikely to bear much fruit until the nation undertakes a serious self-examination." Indeed, considering the tenacity and inflexibility of the positions held by gun fetishists, the obnoxious relativism and doublespeak one sees on right-wing media outlets, and an astonishing unwillingness to throw Trumpism into the dustbin of history are not that hard to fathom if one considers the following:

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Famed astrophysicist Carl Sagan's obituary featured the President of the National Academy of Sciences, Bruce Alberts extolling him thusly: "Carl Sagan, more than any contemporary scientist I can think of, knew what it takes to stir passion within the public when it comes to the wonder and importance of science." The television program Cosmos has been a reliable, interesting, educational experience for me and for millions of others; it's like Sesame Street for this millennium. If you want to learn more about science—astrophysics, astronomy, geology, and even the history of science—this is the show for you.

I will say a few things about it and share a number of quotes from a diverse group of individuals.

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This blog is a short screed that maintains that liberty is lacking in certain key areas for certain classes of individuals (abortion rights, the right to read whatever literature one chooses, the right to choose one's sexual orientation and gender, etc.) but alive and well for many other classes and groups. Further, responsibility is missing in many areas, too. And as the wise man  said, you can't have rights without responsibilities. It seems pretty inarguable that character, integrity, honor, and excellence are insufficiently appreciated and cultivated by most Americans. In a word, we are not a democratic republic that seems to extol virtue. Whether we did in the past, or if it is in fact mere lore, we certainly need it now!

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“In order to improve yourself, Socrates insists, you have to know yourself,�� said philosopher Judith Barad. Socrates hasn’t been around since ancient Athens, Greece, but the method of inquiry and self-examination he pioneered is still valid and has a lot to recommend it. “Socrates was the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and establish it in the towns and introduce it into homes and force it to investigate life, ethics, good and evil,�� according to also-significant Roman orator Cicero. “Socrates�� method was to go about, as he said himself, ‘cross-examining the pretenders to knowledge and wisdom,�� and by the cross-examination, showing them that they were in error, that what they supposed they knew, they did not know,�� noted the luminary Mortimer Adler. This blog is about Socratic dialogue - how to appreciate it, and what it can do.

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