1. |
The Banality of Evil
05:07
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"Men have been found to resist the most powerful monarchs and to refuse to bow down before them, but few indeed have been found to resist the crowd, to stand up alone before misguided masses, to face their implacable frenzy without weapons and with folded arms to dare a no when a yes is demanded."
~Hannah Arendt "The Origins of Totalitarianism" 1951
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2. |
Dishonor Will Remain
03:53
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At the January 6th Committee Hearing, Liz Cheney offered a stark message to the GOP members who continue to support Trump:
“There will come a day when President Trump is gone,” Ms. Cheney said. “But your DISHONOR WILL REMAIN.”
June 9, 2022
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is among just a handful of Republicans who have repeatedly spoken out against Trump since he left office. She is also one of just two Republicans, along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger who sits on the nine-member January 6 panel.
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3. |
MadMan Putin?
02:24
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The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin is a power-hungry megalomaniac. He harbors imperial ambitions, so much so that he decided to attack Ukraine, a neighboring country.
He has said quite explicitly in recent days is that if anybody interferes in Ukraine, they will be met with a response that they’ve ‘never had in their history.’ And he has put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.
The White House must now figure out how it can give Vladimir Putin an off-ramp to avoid even greater calamity.
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4. |
Wow, A Jewish President
02:46
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American Jews have been inspired by the heroic leadership of Ukraine’s proudly Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has exhibited great patriotism and bravery, joining his fate with that of his countrymen on the streets of Kyiv, refusing to leave despite Western offers of an airlift.
Many of us American Jews have ancestors that fled Ukraine and the leadership of President Zelenskyy has produced a feeling of solidarity with Ukraine.
Ukraine was the birthplace of the Hasidic movement and has a rich legacy of Yiddish culture. Klezmer music got its start in Ukraine. The famous writer Sholem Aleichem, who wrote “Fiddler on the Roof,” was born in the shtetl of Pereiaslav, south of Kyiv in 1859.
Ukraine has also been the site of horrific antisemitism. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish community faced pogroms and policies which tightened restrictions on where Jews could live and their occupations.
During the Holocaust more than one million Jews were killed by the Nazis and local Ukrainian collaborators. The wave of tolerance and pluralism that enabled Zelenskyy to become president in 2019, is a relatively recent phenomenon.
The United States has never had a Jewish president.
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5. |
Jews Will Not Replace Us
02:38
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One of the principal reasons that Jews have thrived in the United States is that American culture has more often tended to admire success than to envy or deprecate it. The archetypal American hero is the restless upstart who uses his wits and perseverance to do good. These attitudes, born from the Calvinist convictions of the Puritans, did more to help Jews than any formal declarations of religious tolerance or personal liberty.
For once in our long history of exile, Jews did not have to fear that our achievements would be held against us. We could finally rise as far as our talents would reach. Elsewhere in the world, Jewish success usually stoked antisemitism. In America, historically, Jewish success usually extinguished it.
Now this is changing. Success in America is coming to be seen as a function not of individual merit but of a deeply rigged system that calls itself a meritocracy but is actually a self-serving plutocracy - a society controlled by people of great wealth.
And just who, according to this view, has rigged this system? Precisely the people who have most benefited from it and now have the “privilege” of standing atop it. In nearly every major institution, a disproportionate percentage of the meritocracy is Jewish. And the goal of nearly every social justice movement in the United States today is to tear that system down.
“Jews will not replace us.”
This Charlottesville chant expresses the centuries-old fear that Jews, in league with peoples of color, are engaged in a nefarious plot to destroy the white Christian civilization.
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6. |
Ode to Calypso
02:29
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Calypso music started in Trinidad in the 17th century from the West African music brought by enslaved Africans. They were brought to work on sugar plantations, stripped of all connections to their homeland and family and not allowed to talk to each other.
They used calypso music to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. Calypso music expressed the daily struggles of living in Trinidad - the poor economic situation and the discrimination.
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7. |
Giving Thanks
04:48
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"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
-John F. Kennedy
Imagine the difference it would make if each of us decided to trade our complaining for thanks-giving. If instead of dwelling on what is wrong and who is to blame, we focused instead on all that is right and doing our bit to make it even better.
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8. |
Addicted to Outrage
02:26
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Outrage is the latest drug of society. It’s more acceptable than alcohol and it’s more addictive than anything you can swallow, smoke or inject. Anger feels so damn righteous. We are outraged about voter suppression, racism, abortion, climate change - to name a few.
Outrage sells like crazy, because it’s a strong emotion and strong emotions force people into action. For example, Fox News whips their supporters into a frenzy of anger against the other side.
Corporations are now getting in on the action too. Nike sales increased 30% after the Colin Kaepernick ad was released and caused a 6 billion dollar brand increase. You think they put that ad out there to take a social stand? They used your outrage to cash in, and they cashed in big time.
The media doesn't make money without your attention. They have to make you keep clicking and tuning in, otherwise their advertising dollars dry up. That’s why everything is increasingly sensationalized and it’s no longer about reporting facts.
A headline that makes you emotional causes you to click.
Outrage has become the signature emotion of American life.
“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"
- Martin Luther King Jr
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9. |
Not Justice
02:28
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Kyle Rittenhouse, the notorious, gun-toting white teenager accused of murdering two people and trying to kill a third during a police-violence protest last August, has been found not guilty on all the charges against him in a Wisconsin courtroom.
Acquitting Kyle Rittenhouse sends a message to future Kyle Rittenhouses that they are free to incite violence and then claim self-defense. Liberty and Justice for all?
This is not justice.
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10. |
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HE'S A CROOK! HE NEEDS TO PAY!
words by Donald Trump
music by Steve Shapiro
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11. |
Prelude to Disaster
02:31
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Irreversible climate change has already occurred as whole societies and ecosystems are dying, and emissions continue to rise. Covid is a prelude to a climate catastrophe.
The profit motive is embedded in both the pandemic and the climate emergency. It is wrong to profit from other people’s pain. Profit attracts deceit and negligence.
We have not learned to regulate profit because we are, in Charles Dickens’ words, “a cunning and greedy society.” Greed is everywhere. The pharmaceutical industry is predicated on profit and often fails to address public need.
Governments, the media and health organizations are dominated by commercial interests pretending to care while profiting from pain and pollution. Commercially controlled vaccines will protect the rich for a while but, if we do not share them equitably across the world, they will not end the pandemic. Profit-fuelled climate chaos remains a terrifying threat.
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12. |
PERSONA
06:23
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A persona is the public image of one's personality. It is the mask or appearance that one presents to the world. It is designed to make a definite impression upon others, and to conceal the true nature of the individual, according to Carl Jung.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful who we pretend to be.”
- Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night
This is especially true now that we have reached a new stage of marketing where we are not just consumers, but also the thing consumed. When we willingly choose to become unpaid content providers, we commercialize ourselves. We are encouraged to be obsessed with the number of followers, messages, comments, retweets, favorites.
Social media platforms are monetized through advertising. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram make their money by charging advertisers for space, and the more attention and engagement a platform is getting, the more they can charge for that space. Though many people view themselves as solely the users of these platforms, the truth is that the users, and their attention, is actually the product being sold.
We all hide behind our masks. But what happens when the mask takes over? The end of true individualism?
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13. |
Intropsection
02:25
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We live in a time and a culture that is focused on self. "Selfies" have become a global phenomenon, and social media fosters a fixation on me. Social media, while it connects us to others, seems to lead to greater self-centeredness, as people strive to make their “presence” known. This "me first" attitude makes it difficult for people to recognize the plight of others who are less fortunate, or to embrace self-sacrifice for the collective good.
The coronavirus has not only decimated our population, it has also been a test of our character. We appear to be failing this test. People are at each other’s throats over wearing masks, the true facts of the pandemic, blatant racism, and old monuments, all the while appearing to be driven by pure selfishness – a feeling coming from all sides of the political spectrum.
Self-reflection helps us to become better humans as we focus less on getting "liked." We draw closer to the expression of our true nature as an essential part of the Universe.
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14. |
Dust to Dust
07:17
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"All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return."
Ecclesiastes 3:20
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15. |
Let My People Go
02:44
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"Go Down Moses" is a well known African American spiritual.
The song represents the liberation of the ancient Jewish people from Egyptian slavery, as recounted in the Old Testament. Enslaved African Americans could relate to the experience of Moses and the Israelites who were enslaved by the pharaoh. It holds the hopeful message that God will help those who are persecuted.
"When Israel was in Egypt's land
Let my people go
Oppressed so hard they could not stand
Let my people go!
Go down, Moses
Way down in Egypt's land
Tell old Pharaoh
Let my people go!"
During slavery, the North had more votes than the South. The South did not want slaves to vote, but wanted to count them in their population totals toward the number of electors. The Electoral College was their solution. It is past time to get rid of it.
One Person, one vote.
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Steve Shapiro Oakland, California
Steve Shapiro has composed music for hundreds of radio and TV commercials, documentary films, infomercials and other TV programs. He was the music director at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, which produced hundreds of award-winning educational films and recordings. He has a BA in Music from Brown University and an MA in Music from the Manhattan School of Music. ... more
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