I was a bit surprised yesterday to get notifications about comments left on my posts here. First, I didn’t think anybody read this. I never really intended this for a broader audience. Maybe I secretly liked the idea of somebody stumbling upon it and thinking it was worth something, but I’ve only told a couple of people about it, and I don’t talk about it on social media or make any efforts to advertise it. I’ve been toning down my social media presence a bit lately for professional reasons, and haven’t done much here either. Yet, there were these two comments. It was clearly the same person making both comments, because they both came from the same IP address and were left within minutes of each other, although the person tried to make it seem like they were from two people by using different email addresses, one of which was “die@hittingbregma.com.” The comments made me pretty sad. Lots of “your side” does this and “your side” does that, which is so different from how I try to see the world, and what I try to write about here. Nothing acknowledging nuance in the world or showing any attempt to find common ground. Either way, in keeping with my use of this thing as an outlet, I figured it was a good time to write a quick post to get it out there. I’ll turn off comments moving forward because I have Facebook for that stuff. That’s just not what this is for. Sorry to those who really want to engage, but there’s little chance that I’ll approve a comment to be posted, especially on something very old.
Category: How I see the world
Arcs of History
Today’s political climate feels (and objectively is, in many ways) far more hostile than it was earlier in my lifetime. I’ve often wondered if things would feel as tumultuous to me now if I had lived through the mid and late 60s. The world must have felt heated up with the Cold War in full force. Trouble was brewing in Vietnam. A liberal icon, JFK, gets elected, which must feel like a win for the liberal cause. Then Johnson, sends U.S. combat troops to Vietnam, getting drafted becomes a real thing for people to worry about. Society splits into pro-war (or at least still loyal to the country and our military) and anti-war sides. Anti-war and pro-civil rights seemed to go hand-in-hand, and all were brewing and the fuel for protests. Malcom X is killed in the midst of it, which was likely more meaningful for the civil rights liberals. A few years later, King was killed followed shortly after by the killing of Bobby Kennedy. The 1968 election season was in full swing. Kennedy and McCarthy were vying for the anti-war vote in the democratic primary, and on the heels of meaningful wins, Kennedy was killed. For a liberal, it might have felt like it was all over and the direction of the country was set. Nixon went on to win the White House, twice, and the Democratic Party was in shambles.
Continue reading “Arcs of History”Socialism is on the rise
The Trump administration made Intel give the US government a piece of their company, and Trump is pledging many more deals of that sort. The Secretary of Commerce was on CNBC this morning praising this move and hinting at many more ways that the US government should get a piece of the businesses they support. He talked about the huge US investment in defense companies and the large amount of money that the government gives to support research at universities, which end up holding the patents for the work done with that money. On its face, I get the argument. I find it troubling that drug companies benefit tremendously from NIH funding, without sharing the profits with the NIH. I can’t say that I’ve felt that way about universities, but the logic fits there also. All that said, this is a shocking shift in philosophy for the Republican Party.
Continue reading “Socialism is on the rise”DEI
My post titles are lacking creativity, but it’s all I seem to be able to muster these days. After a pretty long hiatus from FB debates/discussions, I find myself sucked back in during the second Trump reign. One particularly long thread recently focused on DEI. It’s clear to me now, more clear than ever, that the hatred of DEI is largely based on a total misunderstanding of what it is. This isn’t the first time that some political party has distorted a thing to make it something different than it is, and then attacked it. “Socialism,” “critical race theory,” “welfare.” All turned into something they aren’t and attacked by the right. I honestly can’t think of examples of the left doing this, but I would bet that they exist and I’m just not sharp enough to bring them to mind.
Continue reading “DEI”Post-assassination thought dump
The assassination attempt on Trump should change the landscape, but whether it does or not remains to be seen. I’ve posted thoughts/comments on social media, but feel like I want them gathered here also, even though I haven’t been using this site all that often lately. I hope I can find time to use it more in the next several months. I’m sure I’ll have things to say as the election nears.
Continue reading “Post-assassination thought dump”More than one thing can be true at a time
Although the pro-Palestine protests at my university have been nothing close to the magnitude that we’ve seen at others, we had a couple of small protests here, the first of which ended with some arrests. There have been many outspoken faculty members expressing disappointment with the way the protests were handled, and more than 200 faculty members signed a letter asking for a review of policies and for charges against the protesters to be dropped. I’m fine with this. I’m a free speech kind of guy, and have a soft spot for activism. If Nazis wanted to have a non-violent march on my campus, I’d argue that they should be allowed to do so (especially because we’re a public university, so all should be welcome). But as much as I support the protesters’ right to protest, I’m disappointed in what feels like a real lack of critical thinking by the people I expect to be the most skilled in critical thinking: the professors.
Continue reading “More than one thing can be true at a time”Israel and antisemitism
I haven’t written anything here in a long time, mostly because I’ve been busy, but also because I hadn’t really felt the need for the outlet that this site has been for me. But I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happening in Israel since October 7, and the hearing in Congress yesterday has me eager to express some thoughts.
Continue reading “Israel and antisemitism”Thinking about trans+ people
The culture war has opened a new battle. The rights of trans people are front and center. There were grumblings and small pre-battles before (a bathroom controversy that I wrote about in 2016), but things have gotten more contentious now. Indeed, in talking to a friend recently, it made me think that outside of my liberal bubble, there are Americans who are genuinely terrified about the direction of the country because of some misguided view of gender-affirming care (and what it is) and because of men participating in women’s sports. I have so many thoughts. Enough of them that I turned back to this old outlet for them, an outlet I haven’t used much recently.
Continue reading “Thinking about trans+ people”The Privilege to Celebrate Juneteenth
I try, as a rule, to pick my topics carefully. Not carefully in that I want to avoid controversial topics or trying to make sure that I don’t get into some kind of trouble from people who disagree with me (not many people read this anyway, so I still find this to be my safe space). But I pick topics carefully in that I generally only write about things if two criteria are satisfied: 1) I have thought deeply about the topic, and 2) the position I am taking on the topic has a solid fact-based foundation. To some (mostly over in Facebook land, where more people tend to read my stuff), it makes it seem like I’m full of facts and figures, but in reality, it’s easier to seem super knowledgable by limiting yourself to topics that you know something about. But here I am, breaking my “rule” that isn’t really a rule. I don’t feel on firm ground on this one, and what I’m going to write may have plenty of obvious flaws (in addition to the flaws from unedited writing and a lack of good proofreading that have always been part of Hitting Bregma). The good thing is that I don’t use being right or wrong as a category in my estimate of my value to the world. I’m not upset when I’m shown that I was wrong. Sometimes I’m confused how I didn’t see it myself, but I’m excited to have a reason to change my views, so breaking my “rule” doesn’t have much risk to it. So let’s talk about Juneteenth a little bit. Just a little bit…this introduction might have more to say than whatever comes after the fold.
Continue reading “The Privilege to Celebrate Juneteenth”The stupid economy
When Bill Clinton ran for president, James Carville, Clinton’s lead strategist said, “it’s the economy, stupid” and that phrase caught on. I’m not an economist, but it’s clear to me that the use of “stupid” in this phrase could have many meanings, intended or otherwise. More importantly, I used “It’s the economy, stupid” as a title for a post already, so I had to mix it up a bit for this one. But more and more, I think there’s a lot of stupid when it comes to the economy, or at least how people talk about the economy.
Continue reading “The stupid economy”
Hitting Bregma 