Why I am where I am

by liberal japonicus

This is not the post I've been working on, but Michael Cain's comment in the last post sets me off on a train of thought. Might not have been the one he was on, but anyway. Below the break cause there is a video down there.

One of the advantages that the Republicans have is that the Democratic party is a big tent party. Always has been, as can be seen by Will Roger's comment "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat" ha ha, ha ha, ouch.

That means that there are always a number of competing interests. Wind power say the environmentalists, not in my back yard say the Dems in Cape Cod. Suggested diet X gets pushback from people who can't imagine giving it up. People not completely comfortable with members from [fill in group here] push back at efforts to bring that group into the mainstream.

The job of the opposition is (or has been taken to be, a better opposition might arguably work to craft reasonable compromises) to simply heighten those disagreements. That might be to cast the people opposed as problematic (waves to Colin Kaepernick, nods to BLM folks and anyone who may have said 'defund the police' in a rally) And it has gotten to the point where Republicans have to use self-serving lies to heighten these differences.

One thing that the left, in its ideal form, does (or tries to do or should do) is to emphasize the shared problems and the common struggle. That is why I look in askance at libertarians and think that the Republican party is either going to choke on its own bile or explode and take all of us with it.

I live in a different country now that also has a pretty rich tradition of leftist protest that is often swept under the rug in favor of homogeneity. But it's always there for the searching, and always ready to emerge, which is why I think knowing the history behind it is important. America, like Japan, has its own myths that are woven into the fabric. This politico article about the appeal of Ted Lasso has an interesting example:

And niceness was what Baker was asking of his constituents, as he referenced a pivotal moment in the show: During a high-stakes game of darts in a British pub, Ted tells his opponent to “be curious, not judgmental,” lest he wind up vastly underestimating Ted’s dart skills.

The clip is here:

I've seen several people refer to that and it is a fun moment. What they don't say, or don't seem to notice, is that Ted Lasso sets up Rupert by throwing the darts with his right hand to get him to wager, and then, reveals he is left handed in order to draw him in to make a bet. The Politico article argues that Ted Lasso's niceness is what Americans feel is their foundational quality. But to me, it is more the ability to set people up and then lecture them about how they aren't doing things right and then overlook what got them there.

To be sure, I love the show and the article notes, from an Atlantic article, one of my favorite jabs it gets in at Ted's self conception, which is

In a care package, Ted’s young son, who still lives in Kansas, sends him a bag of toy soldiers—the small, green, plastic ones, frozen in acts of battle. Ted gives them out to his team as inspirational trinkets. He tries to give one of them to Sam, a player from Nigeria who generally shares Ted’s positive outlook. “Coach,” Sam says, “is it okay if I don’t keep this? I don’t really have the same fondness for the American military that you do.”

“Oh, sure, right,” Ted replies. “Imperialism.”

“Imperialism, yeah,” Sam says. “Thank you, coach.”

So I do think there is some awareness built into the show, but I believe it has been embraced because that awareness has only been added as a garnish rather than a main ingredient. Admittedly, it would be a lot harder to do a comedy (Ted Lasso has to deal with complaints about the lack of representation of BAME coaches, Raheem Sterling makes a cameo! It's non-stop hilarity!!) and the show is what it is and I still like it.

Anyway, a new thread to talk about whatever while I try to finish the post I want to write.

Comments

[jack lecou]

This study is pretty interesting, and at least partly relevant to the earlier discussion about just giving people money to live their lives, rather than threatening with the lash of destitution.

Not only more successful than the alternatives, but cheaper too.

[wj]

Jack, that's a really great study. The UBI discussion has way too much pontificating about what would happen from "first principles", and way too little actual hard data. So every little bit is a step forward.

[liberal japonicus]

"Popular Youtube vloggers, SerpentZA and Laowhy86, head to the northernmost point of China on their most grueling and punishing adventure to date."
Conquering Northern China

Unfortunately, the Roku channel is not yet available in Japan. But again, I repeat, interesting guy, interesting experiences. And the Laowhy86 as well. But I have to note that Laowhy is probably related to laowai Obviously better than someone trying to "go native", but it just points to the fact that you are always coming from somewhere.

And I have to note, folks who would title their video 'Conquering Northern China' are coming from a perspective that might not leave them open to all the possibilities...

[CharlesWT]

It's available at Vimeo for money: $7.99. But that may not be available in Japan either.

The guys are foodies so they'll give just about anything a try. The drone ariel footage is great.

They've been criticized for the titles. Includes Conquering Southern China which is available from Amazon.

[liberal japonicus]

I'm not criticizing them for the titles, merely pointing out that the titles may reveal something about their way of thinking.

[wj]

And, unlike the folks who write newspaper articles, they do write their own headlines.