• Home
  • About

Jack Shalom

~ Musings, Memories, and Magic

Jack Shalom

Tag Archives: political beliefs

A Child’s Garden of Denial

13 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by Jack Shalom in Life

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

denial, political beliefs, politics, Shalblog industries®

Photo on 10-25-18 at 10.27 PM

***

Once in a while, we here at Shalblog Industries® allow ourselves a political post. In the spirit of Shalblog Industries®’ policy of being all things to all people, however, this post will be merely descriptive rather than prescriptive.

And so…

The one incontrovertible fact about life in the United States is this: the standard of living that capitalism allows is built on the misery, torture, destruction, exploitation, and killing of millions of people around the world.

That one simple fact is really the centerpiece of our existence.

It’s a fairly impossible fact to live with.

How could we wake up every morning and function with that on our shoulders? The Shalblog Industries® Theory of American Political Ideology is simply a catalogue of the various strategies used to cope with this central fact of our existence. The style of denial a person chooses determines whether one is a conservative, fascist, neo-liberal, liberal, socialist, pacifist, anarchist, etc., or combination thereof. (And yes, certainly vice-versa is true as well—one’s political stance determines one’s denial technique.)

Why one person chooses one strategy and another person chooses another strategy is not something Shalblog Industries® is authorized to discuss right now. Our aim here is much more circumscribed. In this post we will merely catalogue the varieties of coping.

Without further ado: A Child’s Garden of Denial

1) Outright Rejection. “You’re lying. No one’s dying. At least not to make my life better.”

2) The New World Order Acceptance. “Yes it’s absolutely true–and that’s the way it must be. It’s right that people—my inferiors—should live to serve me, their superior.”

3) Life is a Game. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s life. There are winners and losers, and the losers haven’t done enough to become winners.”

4) Family Is Everything. “Life is hard enough as it is; I can’t worry about others, only myself and my family.”

5) As The World Turns. “Things will turn out all right in the end. The world is evolving slowly in the right direction. Patience.”

6) Poor Little Me. “Yes there is much injustice in the world, but I do not have the power to change things.”

7) I’m On It. “Yes, there is so much injustice in the world, and I am working to change it.”

8) It’s So Confusing. “Yes, there is so much injustice in the world, but what happens away from these shores is murky and vague to me.”

9) Not My Department. “Yes, it may be that people are not being treated well, but I’m not a political person.”

10) Pretty Please. “I see that there are injustices in the world, and if only we can get some people to be nicer, the world could be better.”

11) It Is What It Is. “This is what life is, unfortunately. No one said that life is fair.”

12) Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There. “Yes, it’s all terrible, but I have no idea what to do about it.”

13) The Beard Stroker. “Yes, it’s terrible, and if we study long enough and deeply enough to try to understand, then we can change things.”

14) God is Good.“The way things are right now is all going according to God’s will.”

15) Counter-Insurgency. “There are bad people who are spreading rumors that are just untrue. We must stop those people who are saying such things.”

16) I Gotta Be Me. “It may be true, but no one can function in everyday life with that knowledge in one’s rear-view mirror all the time.”

17) You Talkin’ To Me? “I am not the victimizer, I am the victim.”

18) The Artiste. “I’ll write a blog post about it.”

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Google
  • Email
  • Print
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Jack Shalom on WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • (Un)Acceptable Losses February 15, 2019
  • All I Want February 14, 2019
  • That’s What They’d Like You To Believe February 13, 2019
  • Just Deserts February 12, 2019
  • Gold Dust At My Feet February 11, 2019
  • Sunset February 10, 2019
  • Shin Lim Meets Larry King: Hilarity Ensues February 9, 2019
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’ February 8, 2019
  • Star Wars Subway Car February 7, 2019
  • Texting For Godot February 6, 2019
  • Royal Flush February 5, 2019
  • Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes February 4, 2019
  • Fourth World Problems February 3, 2019
  • “A Wise Word…” Sholom Aleichem February 2, 2019
  • A Trip Through New York City: 1911 February 1, 2019
  • Watch Dog January 31, 2019
  • The Psycho Psychiatrists January 30, 2019
  • Round The Bend January 29, 2019
  • I’ll Follow The Sun January 28, 2019
  • The Stooge January 27, 2019
  • The Scorpion And The Tortoise January 26, 2019
  • Essential Non-Essentials January 25, 2019
  • “We Think You’re Just Sensational” January 24, 2019
  • Hit Or Myth January 23, 2019
  • A Hole In The Fabric Of Time And Space January 22, 2019
  • Musical Seasons January 21, 2019
  • “They All Want To Play Hamlet” January 20, 2019
  • Brother Theodore Vs Jerry Lewis January 19, 2019
  • A Face In The Jar By The Door January 18, 2019
  • Dish Engaged January 17, 2019
  • Learning French: Eddie Izzard January 16, 2019
  • Eco-Shakespeare January 15, 2019
  • “So Hoist Up The John B. Sails” January 14, 2019
  • Gerald Deutsch’s Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years January 13, 2019
  • Red Skelton On Carson January 12, 2019
  • When Your Cruise Has Been Canceled January 11, 2019
  • Body And Soul: Nellie McKay January 10, 2019
  • Heads Up January 9, 2019
  • “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges” January 8, 2019
  • What Is Jazz? January 7, 2019

Blogroll

  • (Roughly) Daily Everyday, two linked ideas, sure to fascinate
  • Alec Nevala-Lee Daily thoughtful literary essays
  • Anatomy of Teaching Reflections on teaching–practice, research and bureaucracy. John S. Macnab
  • Asylum Reviews of contemporary literature from around the world
  • Devoted to Movies Literate film review site
  • Diane Ravitch's Blog Indefatigable blogger re education issues. Takes on the charter school vultures, champions public education
  • Flavorwire Always something interesting here
  • Good Music Speaks a tasteful classical music blog
  • Great Reads
  • Learn Fun Facts Everyday, a new funny quote, puzzle, wordplay, or mathematical curiousity
  • Marilyn Vogt-Downey Radical Politics
  • maryxo music, art, sex & nerd culture from omaha
  • O at the edge Photography, poetry, language
  • RhysTranter.com Essays everyday on film, writing, and art
  • Scribblings Writing, Classics, Theatre, Books, Reviews
  • Street Photography Wonderful photography site. Consistently takes the photos I wish I had taken!
  • Systemic Disorder Brilliant economic analyses in everyday language
  • The Houdini File Excellent weekly magic blog by David Saltman
  • The Immortal Jukebox Music and Popular Culture
  • The Improvised Life One of my favorite blogs ever. Every day a new post on living spontaneously.
  • thepowerofwonder Magic, science, wonder
  • Wild About Harry Everything Houdini, including original historical investigations

Categories

  • About the Blog
  • Books
  • Comedy
  • Life
  • Magic
  • Music
  • Performance
  • Photography
  • Theatre
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing

Archives

  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014

Categories

  • About the Blog
  • Books
  • Comedy
  • Life
  • Magic
  • Music
  • Performance
  • Photography
  • Theatre
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing

Tags

acting art Arts Express birds Bob and Ray Bob Dylan book books cabaret card magic cards cartoon cartoons Central Park Christmas comedy comic contest dance editing education Everything Old is New Again film folk interview jazz Johnny Carson life Lynda Barry magic magician magicians Marlys MonaLisa Twins movie mural music nature New Yorker novel painting Paul Simon performance Phil Ochs photography poem poetry politics production radio review revision rock Roz Chast satire school sculpture Shakespeare sign sleight of hand song songwriting sonnet street life street photography subway teaching television theater theatre The Beatles The New Yorker Union Square WBAI writing

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: