Preventing the Next Putsch: An Action Plan to Secure American Democracy

The Beer Hall Putsch, Munich, 1923 Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled — the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains — its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to …

Understanding why Democrats have Lost the Rural Midwest

Every once in a while, I go on road trips by myself to very remote parts of the United States. As a result I've spent a lot of time driving around small towns in the Upper Midwest, places I would never visit otherwise. In the spring of this year I went through a town on …

On QAnon as a Revival of Medieval Apocalyptic Cults

On November 2, 2021, a group of several hundred QAnon adherents assembled at Dealy Plaza in Dallas, expecting to see both John F. Kennedy & his son John F. Kennedy, Jr. return from the dead and announce that Donald Trump would be reinstated as president, with JFK Jr. as Trump's new Vice-President. As we might …

Squid Game: The Christ/Judas Dichotomy (or: why he dyes his hair red at the end)

"Sacrifice" is a word on the minds of the characters in Squid Game (2021), since the prize money increases each time someone dies, and in some games players have to die for the survivors to advance. The theme of sacrifice reaches a climactic point in the final episode which establishes a conflicted dichotomy between Christ-like …

“Deaths of Despair”: the missing factor

“If my answers frighten you, Vincent, then you should cease asking scary questions”Jules Winnfield Anne Case & Angus Deaton’s research on “deaths of despair” among the working-class white population has received a lot of media coverage, and the authors certainly deserve credit for uncovering these trends hidden in the general-population data. However, in their book …

Gore as Spectacle: “Hacksaw Ridge” and the Loss of Historical Memory

Hacksaw Ridge (2016), directed by certified crazy-person Mel Gibson, was subject to near-universal acclaim at the time of its release. Considering that the film won 2 Oscars and was nominated for 4 more, including Best Picture, I came to this movie expecting to see something good, but I was disappointed. There are several reasons why …

The Bloody Road to the Capitol: A 50 Year History of Right-Wing Anti-Government Violence

On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol building, with the intention of hanging the Vice President and executing any members of Congress they could capture [1]. They bludgeoned a policeman to death with a fire extinguisher and were eventually expelled using tear gas. One of the rioters was shot …

The Myth of Hunter-Gatherer Culture

In any article, book, or online discussion about any aspect of human behavior, eventually you will come across a passage like the one below, describing the way humans supposedly lived in prehistoric times, in contrast to our contemporary unnatural lifestyles: Though “pair-bonding” has been around for 3.5 million years, according to Helen Fisher, the hunters …

The Duce Next Time

"There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”Mark 1:7 Despite all the hubbub, it seems like on January 20th, 2021 Trump will leave the White House and a fascist takeover of the United States will not come to pass. Despite all …

White America’s Cherished Idea of Europe

“Toute ma vie, je me suis fait une certaine idée de la France”Some American basic bitch who did study abroad, probably It seems to me that most Americans…well, let me back up, this generalization needs some work before I trot it out... It seems to me that most white, coastal, liberal, well-educated Americans have an …