Thank you for this--an inspiring and brilliant essay! There are time I feel defeated, feel that the enemy is too strong, but I don't really believe it. The story of the West--which is basically the Christian story, which is basically a hero myth, ends with the good guys winning against all odds. Here's a funny story: I was walking down the rural road near my house and listening to a podcast featuring Jonathon Pageau and another Christian symbolist whose name escapes me. They were talking about the imagery of the apocalypse in the book of Revelation, what the various symbols mean, etc. The conversation was very dark and scary, but at the end Pageau said something like "but in the end the snake is defeated and the good guys win!" ..... and at that very second I looked down at the road and realized I was about to step on a dead snake. Its head had been smashed in by a car. The Universe (or God) has a sense of humour, apparently. Carl Jung called this kind of thing synchronicity. It always seems to happen just when I need it. Keep up the good fight, Margaret Anna Alice!
around thanksgiving 2020 it was hard to find places to buy food in nyc if you wouldn't wear the muzzle. thankfully the fruit stands on the street, which i've frequented for decades, were open by then. i'd been depersoned as a non-essential worker by then-governor andrew cuomo so i was out of work. maintained a daily walk to my favorite park and back for the sake of sanity.
some of these fruit stands have a specialty and believe it or not there was this one guy at 67th and columbus on the upper westside who always had cheap garlic. on my walk home i forgot that i should have picked some up.
by the time i realized that i was about 10 blocks away and didn't really want to backtrack. but i was a couple of blocks from one of those public fridges that were springing up around town - precursors for a UBI no doubt. this one was pretty gross, homeless people would pick through the leftovers from the local nursing homes.
suddenly it struck me, what if by some crazy chance there might be garlic in there? i took a left off broadway, opened up the fridge and it was empty.
except for garlic.
i took it.
the universe was created to give us unlimited abundance and this whole piece resonates with that. the old scarcity/fear paradigm is a scam
It occurs to me as I read through - and must re-read - how fortunate the world is that MAA has taken her endlessly impressive, whopping intelligence, and chosen to use it for the good. (So many excellent nuggets in this piece!)
Heart-opening inspiring, deeply gratifying. Thank you, Margaret Anna. As you know, I too am an apocaloptimist and your work only fortifies my conviction that this does turn out - even better than - okay.
That meme with the little kid fixing to get in trouble - I'm still smiling, and the classroom of kids being taught 'Fuck No' well, that is the appropriate context in which to to teach children to swear.
What an epic post! Starting out below rock bottom and soaring up. I want to send the little troublemaker to my daughters. I love Bucky Fuller and hadn't ever heard his story. For my daughters and I, that seems to be the lesson we're continually being taught--things work out but only at the last moment. If it was any sooner, you'd miss the miracle of it.
Like button flatlined about 10 days ago...(as) if you don't have enough to read, see comment above about annas-archive.org - for the short, crash-course version of Bucky "Grunch of Giants" will do you well & quickly - if you like that matinee, "Critical Path" is great as a feature. Experiencing supply chain problems with brass today, but here's some steel... :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJy_MQQhnog
Haha, supply chain problems with brass! I'll check out the Bucky Grunch of Giants. And I forgot to mention how much I like 'revenooers'. I think it's even better than oligarchs or psychopaths because makes fun of them, instead of inflating them into some evil genius masterminds. We need to cut them down to size, and this sounds like a cartoon villain.
"Grunch of Giants" may not be as quick a read as Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket", but it won't take you very long to get through. "Critical Path" will take longer...maybe Grunch: Critical Path like Portrait of the Artist: Ulysses...or something like that. Enough Comp. Lit. biz...now watch a couple of teenagers make a music legend cry... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi5A9OCAyIk
I love that song! I didn't know that Emmylou inspired it. In my next life, I want to be a lyricist. They are my favorite thing to write. And this song reminds me why.
I can see your expansion on "Revenooers" going to the top of the charts. :-) Lotsa rhyming angles: evildoers, suers, sewers, Milwaukee Brewers...you'll hit it out of the park. Della Mae's out on injured reserve, so you'll have to make do with this Triple A team... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9mPGufKO4
All We Masses need to do for us to WIN is to act for each other. Or, as one of the Clash was quoted by the London Sunday Times magazine in July 1977 (read as I flew from Zurich to Dar es Salaam): "Just figure out who's doing what to you, and what you're going to do about it."
I think most people do not realize what is going on. Maybe it is defeatist of me, but I no longer try to reason with dark personalities, I have tried too many times to count, and failed. I have given up on that endeavor.
Dear Margaret, Thank you so much for your essay -- and for the phrase Apocaloptimist-- we need all the inspiration and the uplifting moments we can gather together as we also gather our courage to continue to speak out against all odds. ~ Ginger Breggin
Apparently, a lot of people are thankful for this article. Always good to know I’m not alone in my thinking. This was truly a fantastic read and just the kind of things I needed to hear. I’ve been red-pilled from the beginning but my red pill has tinges of black on the edges because I vacillate in tiny amounts with thoughts that the machine is too big to conquer. You buoyed me today with the positivity. Thank you!
Thank you for this--an inspiring and brilliant essay! There are time I feel defeated, feel that the enemy is too strong, but I don't really believe it. The story of the West--which is basically the Christian story, which is basically a hero myth, ends with the good guys winning against all odds. Here's a funny story: I was walking down the rural road near my house and listening to a podcast featuring Jonathon Pageau and another Christian symbolist whose name escapes me. They were talking about the imagery of the apocalypse in the book of Revelation, what the various symbols mean, etc. The conversation was very dark and scary, but at the end Pageau said something like "but in the end the snake is defeated and the good guys win!" ..... and at that very second I looked down at the road and realized I was about to step on a dead snake. Its head had been smashed in by a car. The Universe (or God) has a sense of humour, apparently. Carl Jung called this kind of thing synchronicity. It always seems to happen just when I need it. Keep up the good fight, Margaret Anna Alice!
🎯
around thanksgiving 2020 it was hard to find places to buy food in nyc if you wouldn't wear the muzzle. thankfully the fruit stands on the street, which i've frequented for decades, were open by then. i'd been depersoned as a non-essential worker by then-governor andrew cuomo so i was out of work. maintained a daily walk to my favorite park and back for the sake of sanity.
some of these fruit stands have a specialty and believe it or not there was this one guy at 67th and columbus on the upper westside who always had cheap garlic. on my walk home i forgot that i should have picked some up.
by the time i realized that i was about 10 blocks away and didn't really want to backtrack. but i was a couple of blocks from one of those public fridges that were springing up around town - precursors for a UBI no doubt. this one was pretty gross, homeless people would pick through the leftovers from the local nursing homes.
suddenly it struck me, what if by some crazy chance there might be garlic in there? i took a left off broadway, opened up the fridge and it was empty.
except for garlic.
i took it.
the universe was created to give us unlimited abundance and this whole piece resonates with that. the old scarcity/fear paradigm is a scam
The spirit of humanity is so incredibly resilient! Brilliant post : )
Yes, and on beautiful display with this post.
It occurs to me as I read through - and must re-read - how fortunate the world is that MAA has taken her endlessly impressive, whopping intelligence, and chosen to use it for the good. (So many excellent nuggets in this piece!)
Heart-opening inspiring, deeply gratifying. Thank you, Margaret Anna. As you know, I too am an apocaloptimist and your work only fortifies my conviction that this does turn out - even better than - okay.
That meme with the little kid fixing to get in trouble - I'm still smiling, and the classroom of kids being taught 'Fuck No' well, that is the appropriate context in which to to teach children to swear.
Loved this. Thank you.❤️ Will re-stack.
Your timing for this is impeccable. You have no idea. Thank you. I am rocking that song!
What an epic post! Starting out below rock bottom and soaring up. I want to send the little troublemaker to my daughters. I love Bucky Fuller and hadn't ever heard his story. For my daughters and I, that seems to be the lesson we're continually being taught--things work out but only at the last moment. If it was any sooner, you'd miss the miracle of it.
Like button flatlined about 10 days ago...(as) if you don't have enough to read, see comment above about annas-archive.org - for the short, crash-course version of Bucky "Grunch of Giants" will do you well & quickly - if you like that matinee, "Critical Path" is great as a feature. Experiencing supply chain problems with brass today, but here's some steel... :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJy_MQQhnog
Haha, supply chain problems with brass! I'll check out the Bucky Grunch of Giants. And I forgot to mention how much I like 'revenooers'. I think it's even better than oligarchs or psychopaths because makes fun of them, instead of inflating them into some evil genius masterminds. We need to cut them down to size, and this sounds like a cartoon villain.
"Grunch of Giants" may not be as quick a read as Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket", but it won't take you very long to get through. "Critical Path" will take longer...maybe Grunch: Critical Path like Portrait of the Artist: Ulysses...or something like that. Enough Comp. Lit. biz...now watch a couple of teenagers make a music legend cry... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi5A9OCAyIk
I love that song! I didn't know that Emmylou inspired it. In my next life, I want to be a lyricist. They are my favorite thing to write. And this song reminds me why.
I can see your expansion on "Revenooers" going to the top of the charts. :-) Lotsa rhyming angles: evildoers, suers, sewers, Milwaukee Brewers...you'll hit it out of the park. Della Mae's out on injured reserve, so you'll have to make do with this Triple A team... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9mPGufKO4
Thank you for bringing Alison Botha to my attention.
Yes indeed. The hand of God, our savior Jesus, was directing her to live and fight on with purpose.
Amen
Thanks again, MARGARET ANNA ALICE.
All We Masses need to do for us to WIN is to act for each other. Or, as one of the Clash was quoted by the London Sunday Times magazine in July 1977 (read as I flew from Zurich to Dar es Salaam): "Just figure out who's doing what to you, and what you're going to do about it."
Wow! That was inspiring!! I’m on board - let’s kick ass!!
A Canadian Grandma
Sandy... American grandma agrees! For my granddaughters♥️
I think most people do not realize what is going on. Maybe it is defeatist of me, but I no longer try to reason with dark personalities, I have tried too many times to count, and failed. I have given up on that endeavor.
Forgive them! The frequency of forgiveness is very high - will counteract their negativity.
A Canadian Grandma
I don't hold vengeance toward them at all. They still hurt others.
Yup!
Dear Margaret, Thank you so much for your essay -- and for the phrase Apocaloptimist-- we need all the inspiration and the uplifting moments we can gather together as we also gather our courage to continue to speak out against all odds. ~ Ginger Breggin
This gave me goosebumps. And it goes so well with Meredith Miller’s second set of questions.
Love the quote by Bucky that you shared. I feel a certain kinship with the man :) Perfect timing to hear that today, thank you!
I don’t know enough about him. I am intrigued and intellectually stimulated.
I appreciated the Patton quote (ex military here).
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”
Joan Didion
"...they were released on parole in 2023..."
Debate over the death penalty? Resolved.
Apparently, a lot of people are thankful for this article. Always good to know I’m not alone in my thinking. This was truly a fantastic read and just the kind of things I needed to hear. I’ve been red-pilled from the beginning but my red pill has tinges of black on the edges because I vacillate in tiny amounts with thoughts that the machine is too big to conquer. You buoyed me today with the positivity. Thank you!
Without courage, all the other virtues mean nothing. We tend to forget it but you have reminded us with this fabulous essay, thank you!
Fortunately for those who flop down waiting for the Amtrak, it will be many hours late and they will have time to do a Bucky Fuller-like 180.