We can all afford to listen more. And--if we listen to actually hear the other person rather than wait to pounce on something he says--it's amazing what we'll hear! The ones at the top ($$$) have used this as a dividing tactic. There are more of us than there are them. Money is the root of all evil, not the key to happiness.
When did men become such wimps????? We have "tough" guys everywhere (like tough guy Sen. Markwayne Mulllin of OK who voted to hurt the poorest people in his state and the nation - NOT a good look and NOT tough at all) and still men feel weak........ Dictator Donnie is not a tough guy, he is a bully (as is his entire regime) who delights in picking on others with no consequences. A TERRIBLE role model for men and boys and women for that matter. Do NOT be him!! Or anything like him!! You treat people with respect and dignity and it comes back to you. Be a decent person. Show others what is means to be a decent person who is kind and decent to others. And stand up for others who are being abused and taken advantage of......
Mr Smart, you just answered your own question. Men can be less "smart" when they are more tough. In that sense, Donnie is an excellent role model for some men. He gives them an alternative to having to deal with their limitation. "You can't outthink someone else? Then tell lies about them, and beat them up."
You're saying "you treat people with respect and dignity, and it comes back to you." Donnie doesn't have that ability, or that desire. He likes "nice guys finish last."
It's hard to envision someone who has chosen to amass a lot of money, and successfully shake down lots of people, and get elected president of the United States twice, as someone who "never does succeed." He commonly doesn't, he gets lucky at times, he had McConnell to support him at critical times that many others wouldn't have, and he lies and cheats constantly. So considering the qualifiers, I agree with you that he's a failure. He will certainly have a legacy that he won't live long enough to enjoy, which is good for him, because we've already seen the "TACO" pattern, but he will leave enough to make his family well off, but without reason to be proud. Unless they just want the money, and they don't care what anyone thinks of whence it came.
Comment regarding 'How do I relate to the new trans person at my workplace?' Asking questions is good! No shame in asking a question. Especially on this issue. A person who has not experienced gender dysphoria may have, probably does have, difficulty in understanding the whole dysphoria thing. Changing gender just seems weird because it has never occurred as even a possibility to a person completely at home in their gender. Mike's advice is so good--just relate to your new trans co-worker as a fellow human.
That may be one way to see the divide in this country, but it is certainly not “the greatest divide” as this post claims. Making people feel heard is how Trump came to power. But what that power has allowed him to do is manipulate millions of susceptible voters and convince them that his fiction is fact and that facts are fake news. That divide between those whose views are based on evidence and those whose views are fabricated by an evil autocrat is a much more fundamental divide.
In other words, the far bigger divide is between those who still have the agency to distinguish between fact and fiction and those who have lost their agency to do so because they were caught in Trump spell of disinformation. I understand that boys and men are struggling these days, and that Democrats have failed to address those struggles. But it is not the Democrats fault that men struggle to live in a world where they are no longer the only ones with all the power and status. And it has been those arrogant, selfish and racist views of so many men in this country—views that have dominated their perspective for so long—that caused women and people of color to have no trust that if those men are re-empowered that they will ever reconsider their former belief in their dominance over all others.
The left is always being told that they must forgive and accept those whose views have seriously hurt people and continue to do so. Why are the expectations of the left always an order of magnitude higher than those placed on the right? After all, those struggling men are never asked to even consider for a second why the left is so angry about their hate and cruelty and their worship of a morally depraved, racist, misogynistic felon. Maybe if they openly acknowledge that their fears sent them down the wrong path towards evil, the left would be more able to address their needs. This dynamic started with them isolating and dismissing the concerns of those groups who have always felt hopeless. Maybe finding a solution to their struggle requires some honest self-reflection first, followed by a change of strategy on the left!
Part of the issue is the "tone deaf" democratic party leadership that keeps singing the same old tired song lyrics spouting what THEY think we should agree with instead of listening to US about what we think is important.
I am so fed up with the endless hyperbolic e-mails with emotion-laden yes/no questions about trigger issues. Instead, we need to figure out what it's going to take to win the mid-terms and nothing so far that they've come up with is going to do it in my opinion.
This has been very educational. With young men feeling they cannot financially provide & less able to share feelings (& other issues), I wonder (more specifics) how they got convinced voting for djt would actually solve these problems? With so much false narrative with this admin, I wonder what these men were promised that convinced them to vote as they did?
There is a certain naivety and vulnerability with this age group that needs to be shared so we can have the necessary conversations with no judgment or manipulation. Just like Mamdani taps into the lived experiences of people, we should be able to tap into the lived experiences of these men (and anyone) through conversations.
This offers me hope and I will do what I can to engage and build connections.
We are being played for fools, the only country in the world where heathcare is not a human right. You are scammed day-in and day-out by insurance companies and big pharma. Insurance premiums paid monthly only for you to see Claim Denied. Drug costs that are 2-3 times the cost for the same drug in the next country. It is carnage on the American stage. You accept all that. ??????
We do not have "health care" in this country. We have an American medical industry. It commonly enough has little or nothing to do with anyone's health. It's about moving money from wherever it is to providers, other vendors, and insurance companies.
Listening in Asheville, NC. Good thing I read the previous comments or this would have been a repeat of what Joanne Topol said! World progress has been trying to force white American men to change for decades, if not centuries. No one wants the status quo to change if its working for them. They hold onto power (personal, economic, etc.) any way they can. We've seen it throughout history: slavery, denying women the right to vote, institutionally supported discrimination, the gender pay gap, to name a few. This country is at the tipping point of white men's previous position in our society not being what they've desperately tried to hold onto going away for good. The change is going to roll over & crush those who refuse to become more of what we needed them to be in the first place: at least more egalitarian in their outlooks and, therefore, their actions. The results (backlash) of this crush is already happening: Proud Boys, Jan 6, etc. I guess now the rest of us have the added burden of also saving them from themselves for the good of the nation.
We can all afford to listen more. And--if we listen to actually hear the other person rather than wait to pounce on something he says--it's amazing what we'll hear! The ones at the top ($$$) have used this as a dividing tactic. There are more of us than there are them. Money is the root of all evil, not the key to happiness.
Agreed
I’m “listening. Myrtle Beach SC.
75year old Female VietNam Veteran. A tiny blue dot in a blind, deaf red state.
Thanks for leading the task of listening, then acting instead of reacting.
Glad to have you Eileen!
Hi Mike, I enjoy and appreciate what you bring to the solutions for saving our Democracy.
You interviews are excellent, I support a number of folks on Substack, so I am somewhat limited. Thank you for what you are doing!
Thanks Jim!
When did men become such wimps????? We have "tough" guys everywhere (like tough guy Sen. Markwayne Mulllin of OK who voted to hurt the poorest people in his state and the nation - NOT a good look and NOT tough at all) and still men feel weak........ Dictator Donnie is not a tough guy, he is a bully (as is his entire regime) who delights in picking on others with no consequences. A TERRIBLE role model for men and boys and women for that matter. Do NOT be him!! Or anything like him!! You treat people with respect and dignity and it comes back to you. Be a decent person. Show others what is means to be a decent person who is kind and decent to others. And stand up for others who are being abused and taken advantage of......
Mr Smart, you just answered your own question. Men can be less "smart" when they are more tough. In that sense, Donnie is an excellent role model for some men. He gives them an alternative to having to deal with their limitation. "You can't outthink someone else? Then tell lies about them, and beat them up."
You're saying "you treat people with respect and dignity, and it comes back to you." Donnie doesn't have that ability, or that desire. He likes "nice guys finish last."
Donnie is a very deranged and disturbed human being and always has been. And "Everything Trump Touches Dies"
You are exactly right. That's why Donnie lies constantly and tries to overpower people. He doesn't have the "smarts" to make things succeed.
And he never does succeed. He is a failure........
It's hard to envision someone who has chosen to amass a lot of money, and successfully shake down lots of people, and get elected president of the United States twice, as someone who "never does succeed." He commonly doesn't, he gets lucky at times, he had McConnell to support him at critical times that many others wouldn't have, and he lies and cheats constantly. So considering the qualifiers, I agree with you that he's a failure. He will certainly have a legacy that he won't live long enough to enjoy, which is good for him, because we've already seen the "TACO" pattern, but he will leave enough to make his family well off, but without reason to be proud. Unless they just want the money, and they don't care what anyone thinks of whence it came.
Well said
Comment regarding 'How do I relate to the new trans person at my workplace?' Asking questions is good! No shame in asking a question. Especially on this issue. A person who has not experienced gender dysphoria may have, probably does have, difficulty in understanding the whole dysphoria thing. Changing gender just seems weird because it has never occurred as even a possibility to a person completely at home in their gender. Mike's advice is so good--just relate to your new trans co-worker as a fellow human.
Listening in Los Angeles. Always interesting.
Stoughton, WI cheese country
Dunedin Florida
Appleton, WI
Pittsburgh PA
From Guilford, CT
That may be one way to see the divide in this country, but it is certainly not “the greatest divide” as this post claims. Making people feel heard is how Trump came to power. But what that power has allowed him to do is manipulate millions of susceptible voters and convince them that his fiction is fact and that facts are fake news. That divide between those whose views are based on evidence and those whose views are fabricated by an evil autocrat is a much more fundamental divide.
In other words, the far bigger divide is between those who still have the agency to distinguish between fact and fiction and those who have lost their agency to do so because they were caught in Trump spell of disinformation. I understand that boys and men are struggling these days, and that Democrats have failed to address those struggles. But it is not the Democrats fault that men struggle to live in a world where they are no longer the only ones with all the power and status. And it has been those arrogant, selfish and racist views of so many men in this country—views that have dominated their perspective for so long—that caused women and people of color to have no trust that if those men are re-empowered that they will ever reconsider their former belief in their dominance over all others.
The left is always being told that they must forgive and accept those whose views have seriously hurt people and continue to do so. Why are the expectations of the left always an order of magnitude higher than those placed on the right? After all, those struggling men are never asked to even consider for a second why the left is so angry about their hate and cruelty and their worship of a morally depraved, racist, misogynistic felon. Maybe if they openly acknowledge that their fears sent them down the wrong path towards evil, the left would be more able to address their needs. This dynamic started with them isolating and dismissing the concerns of those groups who have always felt hopeless. Maybe finding a solution to their struggle requires some honest self-reflection first, followed by a change of strategy on the left!
You're both equally right in my opinion.
Part of the issue is the "tone deaf" democratic party leadership that keeps singing the same old tired song lyrics spouting what THEY think we should agree with instead of listening to US about what we think is important.
I am so fed up with the endless hyperbolic e-mails with emotion-laden yes/no questions about trigger issues. Instead, we need to figure out what it's going to take to win the mid-terms and nothing so far that they've come up with is going to do it in my opinion.
Yes, rights, and responsibilities.
This has been very educational. With young men feeling they cannot financially provide & less able to share feelings (& other issues), I wonder (more specifics) how they got convinced voting for djt would actually solve these problems? With so much false narrative with this admin, I wonder what these men were promised that convinced them to vote as they did?
There is a certain naivety and vulnerability with this age group that needs to be shared so we can have the necessary conversations with no judgment or manipulation. Just like Mamdani taps into the lived experiences of people, we should be able to tap into the lived experiences of these men (and anyone) through conversations.
This offers me hope and I will do what I can to engage and build connections.
We are being played for fools, the only country in the world where heathcare is not a human right. You are scammed day-in and day-out by insurance companies and big pharma. Insurance premiums paid monthly only for you to see Claim Denied. Drug costs that are 2-3 times the cost for the same drug in the next country. It is carnage on the American stage. You accept all that. ??????
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/claim-denied?r=3m1bs
We do not have "health care" in this country. We have an American medical industry. It commonly enough has little or nothing to do with anyone's health. It's about moving money from wherever it is to providers, other vendors, and insurance companies.
Listening in Asheville, NC. Good thing I read the previous comments or this would have been a repeat of what Joanne Topol said! World progress has been trying to force white American men to change for decades, if not centuries. No one wants the status quo to change if its working for them. They hold onto power (personal, economic, etc.) any way they can. We've seen it throughout history: slavery, denying women the right to vote, institutionally supported discrimination, the gender pay gap, to name a few. This country is at the tipping point of white men's previous position in our society not being what they've desperately tried to hold onto going away for good. The change is going to roll over & crush those who refuse to become more of what we needed them to be in the first place: at least more egalitarian in their outlooks and, therefore, their actions. The results (backlash) of this crush is already happening: Proud Boys, Jan 6, etc. I guess now the rest of us have the added burden of also saving them from themselves for the good of the nation.
I disagree with what you are stating. Many younger men are not reading the newspapers or watching the news on TV.
Where did I say that?