Last Thursday, a practiced persona of cruelty and vindictiveness appeared to saturate the only mug shot of a former president in the history of the United States of America. “The Face,” his employees had called the scowl they had seen too often. We might wonder what that implies about his worldview and behavior, if that … More The Mug: Cultural Collapse and the Autocratic Attempt
This past Sunday, a post on the Australian site, Crikey Sunday Read reported on a protest called the “Canberra Convoy.” I had not been aware that the Canadian Truckers’ blockade had been replicated ‘down under.’ The thing is, reactionary, racist, and neo-fascist sentiments have become globally contagious. Clearly, social media has ‘enabled’ the contagion of … More Illusions of Freedom and the Contagion of Hate
It is about time we reflect on the distorted industrial-consumer culture and the “…isms” that propagandists use to confuse reality. The idea of individualism is certainly an American cultural icon as much as socialism has been a cultural red flag. If you like something, tag it as an instance of good old American individualism. If … More Individualism, Socialism, and Sanity: Can We Choose to Live as Humans?
Last Saturday we decided to take a hike in the beautiful Frijoles Canyon of the Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos National Laboratory “up the hill” from Santa Fe. I had not experienced the pandemic claustrophobia that has caused so much anxiety; I guess I was just too busy. Anyway, it was a lovely cool … More Mask over Civility: The Indifference of Americans to Public Health
Obsessive self-importance may be the new normal, and it is not pretty. We have all seen over-inflated egos expressed, from the poorest streets of our cities and dying towns to the elevated offices of CEOs and the White House itself. Likely as not, we have all tried to demonstrate our own self-importance. Why is something … More Self-Importance Is the New Normal
I was an undergraduate student in anthropology when I saw a remarkable documentary film depicting the lives of the !Kung people. Also known as the San, they lived in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa as hunter-gatherers, still undisturbed by outside forces in 1952-3 when some Harvard ethnographers shot the film. The social structure of … More Our Grand Illusions vs. Survival
How do humans communicate, emote, interact, and bond (or not) in the “Age of Digital Devises,” and what’s next? What, if anything, will be required of us in our “digital freedom”? Often, it seems, the dog trains the master as much as the master trains the dog. Who is in control? Whenever we become involved … More Interaction Effects: Human and Digital
The other day, I called around to find the best deal in town for getting my cracked windshield replaced. I had been given a couple of recommendations, one form a friend and one from my mechanic. So, of course, I did an internet search for windshield replacement shops nearby. I picked three the two that … More Always at a Distance: The Decline and Fall of Direct Human Relations
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 