1/10
The popular view of the Boomers, captured in a picture. This is not a “Defense of Boomers” thread, but an anecdotal account of things I’ve seen.
2/10
I am a member of GenX: the kids of Boomers who were lucky enough to have survived newly-legalized abortion and the shrinking of the nuclear family after mothers entered the workplace en masse. We’re known primarily for our cynicism and comprise the last analog generation.
3/ I was raised by Boomer parents in the Rust Belt. I saw Boomers struggle, badly, during the stagflation of the 70s, and all of the industrial offshoring of the 80s & 90s.
Boomers get no "credit" (for lack of a better term) for this.
4/10
Entire towns, and swaths of large cities, died from the 70s-90s. Some of this was via relocation elsewhere in the US, but most was because TPTB decided offshoring to foreign countries was a better option than employing their fellow citizens. carnegieendowment.org/2018/12/10/how…
5/10
Offshoring/relocation caused a chain reaction. Factory jobs left, and then the ancillary jobs followed: diners where workers ate closed, so waitresses and cooks were out of work. Stores, barber shops, gas stations, house builders, etc, all followed suit.
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I want to admit something: I’m not that smart ("Yes, we know," say my detractors). This admission isn’t compliment fishing, etc. I’m considering locking replies to make that point, but I’m hoping for some insight or enlightenment.
2
There’s no way I’d pass a Mensa test with an IQ score of 140+.
- I understand only the dictionary definition of Heisenberg’s Matrix Mechanics.
- I can’t learn Dutch in 6 weeks and give a lecture in it on quantum physics like Oppenheimer.
- Nor can I write at PhD level on multiple subjects in a single book like Spengler.
3
What do have is something that most people in the top-right part of the IQ Bell Curve can attain, which is simply: the ability to be interested in things.
1/24 🧵
The Great Debate between Wendell Berry and Earl Butz on American agriculture and culture.
AKA: “How America’s Food, Farms, and Small Towns Got the Way They Are Today”
2
Wendell Berry was born in Henry County, Kentucky, in 1934. Raised as a farmer, he earned a BA and MA, and then two Fellowships, and became a writer, poet, and environmental activist. His work centers on sustainable agriculture, community living, connection to the soil.
3
Berry is mentioned in the video in my pinned tweet in which he, among others, represents a missed opportunity for American conservatism when conservatism pivoted hard(er) toward economics after WW2.
1/8 🧵
What Trump Should Do, According to Machiavelli
It’s obvious that this term will not be like the first: Trump has his cabinet picks all ready, each with a mandate. While American politics is slow and complicated, he appears to be ready to hit the ground, running.
2
Niccolo Machiavelli was a Florentine philosopher, historian, and diplomat during the Italian Renaissance. His most famous book, “The Prince” (1513), is an instruction guide for rulers. Its objective is to teach how to rule effectively, (even if not morally).
3
Of note is Ch. 8: “Concerning Those Who Have Obtained a Principality by Wickedness.”
I’m not implying that Trump won the election through treachery. However, a good portion of the electorate, fueled by the spiritual catamites comprising much of our MSM, will view him, at best, as a usurper.
1/10
I’ve been enjoying the book, 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, by Eric H. Cline (@digkabri).
Great information, especially the small treasures like the one about the Battle of Megiddo, which I'll summarize.
@digkabri 2
Pharaoh Thutmose III ruled Egypt from 1479 to 1425 BC, and we know much about his rule because he had the details of his military campaigns recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun at Karnak in Egypt.
@digkabri 3
In 1457 BC, 21-year-old Thutmose fought the Battle of Megiddo (Armageddon) against Canaanite chiefs who had rebelled against his ascension and rule.
In the 1960s, a nuclear weapons researcher and inventor, named Robert Mainhardt founded a company with another inventor, Arthur Biehl, founded a company called “MBAssociates,” with the aim of revolutionizing firearms by using rocket technology.
2
They invented The Gyrojet: a rocket launcher in the form of a pistol or carbine. Unlike traditional firearms, these weapons fired self-propelled rockets instead of bullets.
3
A Gyrojet bullet was a .49 or .51cal rocket, which looked something like a small artillery round with vents for gasses to escape. When fired, the rocket had a low velocity (& almost no recoil) but accelerated up to 1,250ft/sec with about 2x the muzzle energy of a .45 ACP.
1
In the late 1970s, a Canadian psychologist, named Bruce Alexander, wondered if drug addiction was more about the drugs, themselves, or about certain aspects of society.
To find out, he did some experiments with rats.
2
Prior studies already showed some effects of isolation on rats.
When placed alone in cages, and offered two water bottles (one with plain water and the other with heroin or cocaine), the rats tended to keep drinking the drugged water until they overdosed and died.
3
For his own study, Alexander built the Rat Park: a 200sqft (18.6 m2) housing colony, 200x bigger than a standard laboratory cage.
In it, he put 16–20 rats of both sexes, with an abundance of food, balls wheels for play, and private places for mating and giving birth.