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It’s the Culture, Stupid.
By Stephanie Kemp
It’s the Culture, Stupid.
By Stephanie Kemp
Yesterday the world melted even more.
An 82 year old man was attacked in the middle of the night in his own home by a 42 year old intruder with a hammer wearing only underpants looking for the man’s wife, the Speaker of the House.
Of the United States of America.
The Plundits tell us that the midterms will swing to the Republicans. These are the same Republicans who are no longer recognizable on any level, in any world, let alone the former United States of America.
They say that the TV Doctor will beat the Lieutenant Governor who had the stroke, The Abortion Paying Football Player will beat the Pastor, The Incumbent Republican Governor will beat the Former Republican Governor who has become a Democrat and is running again because he remembers what a Republican used to be, even though the Incumbent Republican Governor only wants to be the President, not the Governor. The former Broadcaster with the good lighting will become the next Governor of Arizona no matter what the hell happens to anyone, let alone what the voters might have to say.
The Former President didn’t say anything about the man with the hammer, but why would he? He started this. He stoked it. He wanted it. Wanted to break what used to be America, or at least finish the job he started when he came down his Golden Escalator because the Stand Up Comedian made fun of him at the Fancy Dinner for what the Former President calls the Fake News. (Full disclosure: I have never liked that Fancy Dinner. Or NAFTA.)
When I was a senior in college (Communications Major with a focus on Mass Media - 1989), I did a thesis paper about the dangers of what might happen if we lost the Fourth Wall in (what was then only) television programming. I used the original It’s Garry Shandling’s Show to break down what I thought this meant. (Clearly I wasn’t that worried....). I talked about postmodern programming (the aforementioned No Fourth Wall, basically — it could have been a very short paper) as being the natural evolution of what “kids who literally grew up watching TV” would grow up to do:
Make fun of what they know.
Tell their own stories.
Make it theirs.
Grow it all (the stories and the technology) from their bones, not the old bones of the people they would be taking over from.
Rather than bore you, (it was pretty dry, but let me know if you want to read it), I will just say that I was interested enough in the subject to actually enjoy writing it the night before it was due, but I got one thing wrong:
What I missed (besides realizing how dated and quaint TV would quickly become) was that technology would grow to be so massive and all consuming that the kids who would be coming down the pike after these “kids who literally grew up watching TV” wouldn’t necessarily have built the same knowledge base that the kids who came before them did:
Civics.
Science.
Math.
Law.
History, American and World.
English.
Other Languages.
Other Cultures.
Societal Infrastructure.
Ours and Theirs.
Checks and Balances.
Human Interaction.
Grace.
Kindness.
Humility.
Hope.
Walter Cronkite.
No offense (except total offense) but, here we are. Everyone with a tiny camera/phone/computer/tv/personal hand held bullhorn all rolled into one — 24/7.
Who wants to be a doctor (or a teacher, or a scientist, or a carpenter or a trained anything) if you can be an Influencer?
In 10 days the world will shift again. If the Plundits are right, America will lose more (all?) of its democracy. I would give anything for them to be proven wrong (my gratitude after the 2020 election couldn’t have been more massive), but I bet they won’t be. (Please let me and the Plundits be wrong!)
I think democracy was lost in 2016, when the Pork Roasted Reality TV Star Con Artist was elected even though he got busted bragging about “Grabbin’ em by the Pussy.” (And he was elected — I/We accepted that.). Things were already so broken that the PRRTVSCA seemed like the last shot for far too many disenfranchised people.
I need to now do what I tell my kids to do. (And this is why I have written 500 poems since the day that Fucker came down the escalator):
Stay in the day.
Make a difference in your community.
Show up for your neighbors.
Go for a(nother) walk.
Do your best.
Have a cry.
Get up.
Get up again.
Have fun when/if that option presents itself.
Look for the Helpers.
Be a Helper.
Curate.
Narrate.
Aim and fire with everything you’ve got,
Especially because you don’t have a gun.
I spent the day yesterday thinking about the 82 year old man and hoping (I don’t really pray) that his brain surgery (brain surgery!) would go well. I hope the doctors are right that he will make a full recovery.
I am glad his wife and their five children are now with him.
I hope more Republicans wish them well and denounce the violence.
I am sure they will.
But only because they think it might get them some more votes on November 8.
(Or until they figure out a way to blame the attack on the 82 year old man - or better yet - his 82 year old wife.)
___________
ps. In the spirit of not giving up and following the advice I give my children, I did all of those things yesterday, even though I charred the banana bread and didn’t get to give it to my neighbors. I will try again.
pps. In the spirit of listening to my advice, my children did some of those things too, as evidenced by the fact that they both went to parties that weren’t that fun but still went to bed in good spirits because they still (at least for now) have Saturday and Sunday.
ppps. I went to bed in good spirits because they both got home safely, and I am still trying to follow my own advice while also leading by example.
Stay in the Day.
PPPPS! I WAS WRONG! GO, YOUNG PEOPLE!
An 82 year old man was attacked in the middle of the night in his own home by a 42 year old intruder with a hammer wearing only underpants looking for the man’s wife, the Speaker of the House.
Of the United States of America.
The Plundits tell us that the midterms will swing to the Republicans. These are the same Republicans who are no longer recognizable on any level, in any world, let alone the former United States of America.
They say that the TV Doctor will beat the Lieutenant Governor who had the stroke, The Abortion Paying Football Player will beat the Pastor, The Incumbent Republican Governor will beat the Former Republican Governor who has become a Democrat and is running again because he remembers what a Republican used to be, even though the Incumbent Republican Governor only wants to be the President, not the Governor. The former Broadcaster with the good lighting will become the next Governor of Arizona no matter what the hell happens to anyone, let alone what the voters might have to say.
The Former President didn’t say anything about the man with the hammer, but why would he? He started this. He stoked it. He wanted it. Wanted to break what used to be America, or at least finish the job he started when he came down his Golden Escalator because the Stand Up Comedian made fun of him at the Fancy Dinner for what the Former President calls the Fake News. (Full disclosure: I have never liked that Fancy Dinner. Or NAFTA.)
When I was a senior in college (Communications Major with a focus on Mass Media - 1989), I did a thesis paper about the dangers of what might happen if we lost the Fourth Wall in (what was then only) television programming. I used the original It’s Garry Shandling’s Show to break down what I thought this meant. (Clearly I wasn’t that worried....). I talked about postmodern programming (the aforementioned No Fourth Wall, basically — it could have been a very short paper) as being the natural evolution of what “kids who literally grew up watching TV” would grow up to do:
Make fun of what they know.
Tell their own stories.
Make it theirs.
Grow it all (the stories and the technology) from their bones, not the old bones of the people they would be taking over from.
Rather than bore you, (it was pretty dry, but let me know if you want to read it), I will just say that I was interested enough in the subject to actually enjoy writing it the night before it was due, but I got one thing wrong:
What I missed (besides realizing how dated and quaint TV would quickly become) was that technology would grow to be so massive and all consuming that the kids who would be coming down the pike after these “kids who literally grew up watching TV” wouldn’t necessarily have built the same knowledge base that the kids who came before them did:
Civics.
Science.
Math.
Law.
History, American and World.
English.
Other Languages.
Other Cultures.
Societal Infrastructure.
Ours and Theirs.
Checks and Balances.
Human Interaction.
Grace.
Kindness.
Humility.
Hope.
Walter Cronkite.
No offense (except total offense) but, here we are. Everyone with a tiny camera/phone/computer/tv/personal hand held bullhorn all rolled into one — 24/7.
Who wants to be a doctor (or a teacher, or a scientist, or a carpenter or a trained anything) if you can be an Influencer?
In 10 days the world will shift again. If the Plundits are right, America will lose more (all?) of its democracy. I would give anything for them to be proven wrong (my gratitude after the 2020 election couldn’t have been more massive), but I bet they won’t be. (Please let me and the Plundits be wrong!)
I think democracy was lost in 2016, when the Pork Roasted Reality TV Star Con Artist was elected even though he got busted bragging about “Grabbin’ em by the Pussy.” (And he was elected — I/We accepted that.). Things were already so broken that the PRRTVSCA seemed like the last shot for far too many disenfranchised people.
I need to now do what I tell my kids to do. (And this is why I have written 500 poems since the day that Fucker came down the escalator):
Stay in the day.
Make a difference in your community.
Show up for your neighbors.
Go for a(nother) walk.
Do your best.
Have a cry.
Get up.
Get up again.
Have fun when/if that option presents itself.
Look for the Helpers.
Be a Helper.
Curate.
Narrate.
Aim and fire with everything you’ve got,
Especially because you don’t have a gun.
I spent the day yesterday thinking about the 82 year old man and hoping (I don’t really pray) that his brain surgery (brain surgery!) would go well. I hope the doctors are right that he will make a full recovery.
I am glad his wife and their five children are now with him.
I hope more Republicans wish them well and denounce the violence.
I am sure they will.
But only because they think it might get them some more votes on November 8.
(Or until they figure out a way to blame the attack on the 82 year old man - or better yet - his 82 year old wife.)
___________
ps. In the spirit of not giving up and following the advice I give my children, I did all of those things yesterday, even though I charred the banana bread and didn’t get to give it to my neighbors. I will try again.
pps. In the spirit of listening to my advice, my children did some of those things too, as evidenced by the fact that they both went to parties that weren’t that fun but still went to bed in good spirits because they still (at least for now) have Saturday and Sunday.
ppps. I went to bed in good spirits because they both got home safely, and I am still trying to follow my own advice while also leading by example.
Stay in the Day.
PPPPS! I WAS WRONG! GO, YOUNG PEOPLE!