Susan Miller
Spahr Center/Marin HHS the joint Drag Queen Stories and Vaccine Clinics. Read Marin's Teach Pride, Reach Wide Educator Toolkit.
A Civil . . . . What?
By Anne Doherty
Generations, The History of America’s Future (1991) and The Fourth Turning (1997) are books by William Strauss and Neil Howe that use cycles in the character of America’s generational cohorts (Boomer, Millennials, etc.) to anticipate future behavior and events. These books anticipate that sometime around 2020 the US will either engage in a Civil War or with an external force--as with WWII--that will unite us. “The Crisis of 2020 will be a major, turning point in American history, and an adrenaline–filled moment of trial. At its climax, Americans will feel that the fate of posterity--for generations to come--hangs in the balance.” (Generations.) To exemplify their point, every “four score” years or so, we endure such a time; first the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, and finally today.
Since these writers are so influential, it's easy to believe that powerful people know and have exploited some of the concepts within their books. For example, it's easy to imagine that folks at the World Economic Forum think that the US, or the western world for that matter, would unite over something like “climate change” (now “crisis”), Covid and/or the Ukraine war. Perhaps they think we would unite so much that we would hand over our freedoms and not notice they are in fact the external force on the attack.
Indeed, one might ask how right-leaning, rural states with small populations--states where their money comes from ranching or farming--where everyone knows the difference between a cow and a bull, get caught up in defining the difference between a woman and a man. It seems that the majority party in every state gets wooed by lobbyists (backed by special interests, George Soros, WEF or other external forces), who present boiler plate legislation that has little to do with the voters’ needs and more to do with handing power to the power hungry. In the case of the gender war, people are finally waking up and, as Strauss and Howe projected, Americans may unite as they realize external forces are indeed driving us apart.
Kansas just passed a law defining a woman. Oklahoma made trans surgery and puberty blockers felonies. 19 states have banned transgender athletes. Parents are running for school board or opting to take their kids out of school To quote Politico, “Republicans are leaning into transgender restrictions as part of their policy agenda because they see it as a way to energize their base and draw in some moderate voters ahead of the 2024 election.” Stephen Kruiser in PJMedia says, “The radical leftists don’t have the numbers on any issue, they merely have volume. They’re louder on mainstream and social media…Republican candidates can’t let that volume and visibility cow them into submission…”
Strauss and Howe predicted that, like the GI generation, Millennials would be the ones to fight the culture war their Boomers parents wage against each other, but that ultimately, Millennials, exhausted, from the battle, would vote themselves rich in middle age. When I told my daughter recently that the law in California and New Mexico required any individual or group taking public money to point children towards medical transitioning, she responded flatly: “I don’t believe it. I’m socially liberal, and I don’t know anyone who supports that.” She seemed to think that the law ought to reflect the majority. But if it didn’t, the majority wouldn’t be affected by it anyway. Folks would just do what they want.
She’s kind of right. We live in a time of so much prosperity that the poor are obese and the “homeless” have pop-up tents and cell phones. She observes a world in which people seem to do exactly what they want, survive reasonably well, and don’t depend on government for much, except handouts if they hit bottom. But she also lives in a time when young people like her can’t afford housing despite decent salaries, and where the ones who believe in marriage don’t think they can afford children unless their parents help. More importantly, they are angry. Unlike the counterpart GI generation, the Millennials have become angry at their elders and want them out. If it dawns on them that the old coots in government are selling off their birth rite, Millennials might just vote with their feet and start a parallel economy. After all, they know big government doesn’t serve much purpose, and it doesn’t affect their lives as much as government thinks.
So, if states don’t secede over transgenderism, which they may very well do, the country could break apart in a similar manner to when the Soviet Union collapsed. People could just stop doing what they’re told and rely on themselves instead. Generations projects that the “war” could last 10 years. If it started when Trump was elected, it would end in 2026 or 7. If it started in 2020 with Covid, it would end in 2030.
Strauss, William, and Neil Howe. Generations. William Morrow, 1991, p. 382.
https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/01/gender-clinic-trained-elementary-school-teachers-on-how-to-transition-little-kids
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/05/02/performing-trans-surgery-on-children-prescribing-puberty-blockers-now-a-felony-in-oklahoma/
https://pjmedia.com/columns/stephen-kruiser/2023/05/02/the-morning-briefing-will-trans-madness-weariness-play-a-big-role-in-2024-n1691934
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-education/2023/04/24/what-is-a-woman-kansas-could-be-the-first-state-to-decide-00093421
THE END OF POLYTHEISM AS WE KNOW IT
By Anne Doherty
One of the many factors that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire was the rise of Christianity. The Christian religion, which was monotheistic, ran counter to the traditional polytheistic Roman religion. In 313 AD, Roman emperor Constantine ended persecution of Christians. Later that century, Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire. This drastic change spread this relatively new religion to every corner of the Empire. By approving Christianity, the Roman state directly undermined its religious traditions. Finally, by this time, Romans considered their emperor a god, and the Christian belief in one god—who was not the emperor—weakened the authority and credibility of the emperor.
Although I recognize I'm making an incomplete analogy by comparing modern times to the fall of Rome, I do believe that we are living through another time like it, only it seems to be the fall of the western world.
Once Christianity spread through Europe and the Americas, it was only a matter of time before people found a way to corrupt it. Of course, in the early 16th century, Martin Luther called out Rome for its corruption. With the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Communism came people opposed to any religion whatsoever. Today, in the name of Christian principles of love, acceptance, and tolerance, the Left is asking much of the world to drop Christianity in the name of a new kind of polytheism—Wokeism.
To be Woke means to worship at the altar of the following gods: the environment, gender “affirmation”, victimization, Black Lives Matter, abortion and more. Plus, it means you demonize the Right, white people, and Christians.
Polytheism reflects nature. Back in Rome, there was a god for the oceans, the sky and fertility. There were gods for aspects of human nature/behavior, such as war and communication. When connected to nature and separated from science, polytheism made sense. It explained everything. But when Rome reached too far, became too technically advanced, and incorporated too many cultures, it stopped making sense. The people in power seemed to have everything they could possibly want—except probably love, which is probably one reason why Christianity suddenly made more sense than the old ways.
Now we live in a rapidly changing world in which technology and advances in medicine are providing prosperity beyond our wildest dreams. We are bombarded by information and seduced by our own confirmation biases. The old ways of thinking about religion don't make sense to us, so we are easily persuaded to look outside tradition. Since we have everything we want, we think we ought to be happy—and we're not. Wokeism steps in and give us people and things to blame. However, Wokeism, unlike the polytheism of old, does not make sense in respect to nature. In fact, it twists science in the worst possible ways, with the worst being the transgender movement.
“We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need—including gender-affirming care,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said signing a bill into law that turned California into a gender-tourism state. When he says "no one,” he includes children—older children alienated by the modern way of life and easily persuaded by authority figures and biased, false information, and younger children, too innocent to think for themselves. The people encouraging such tragic destruction worship gods that do not reflect nature. It’s one thing for a girl to embrace her masculine side and dress like a boy, it's another to expect science and technology to make being a boy a reality. Everyone involved in the deception knows they are lying.
Since the transgender movement tears apart families and permanently damages ignorant, or innocent children, this is an issue that parents, grandparents, and people who respect Nature itself are willing to die for. Only people who don't understand the law in places like California, and New Mexico aren't contemplating taking their children out of school. Any place which takes money from the government, even charter schools, will have to toe the woke line. As a result, parents are running for school board in record numbers and/or moving to the 12 states that have banned gender surgeries for minors or the 19 that are considering such legislation.
And so, it's only a matter of time before this polytheistic nightmare comes to an end. Although while it’s dying, technology—AI—is going to change life and shrink the world in unpredictable ways. So what will replace Wokeism? Who knows? What matters is not whether you are Christian or not, but that your way of life is simple and consistent, and that your moral values make sense in relation to the physical world.
“If you’re woke, it means you’re a loser,” said Donald Trump at a recent rally. “Everything Woke Turns to S__t.”
Conservative Superheroes: Huckabee-Sanders and DeSantis
By Anne Doherty
Sarah Huckabee Sanders in her quotable response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address said, “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal or crazy."
This youngest governor of Arkansas, at age 40, is also the first millennial governor. Ron DeSantis, at 44, is nearly a millennial, and the two have much in common. Millennials, as a group, value meaningful motivation rather than monetary gains. Millennials are known for their resolve in sharing their opinions and ideas, as well as challenging their superiors when they feel it is warranted. This characteristic comes from the idea that what is best for a group results from active listening, collaboration and considering all points of view.
Because if their strength and collaborative natures, these two show remarkable calm in their common sense attack on Wokism and the Leftist establishment. They show that they are listening to the “normal” majority. Neither is afraid to say the truth about the emperor’s new clothes.
In her speech, Sanders announced that “Upon taking office just a few weeks ago [she] signed Executive Orders to ban CRT, racism, and indoctrination in [AK] schools, eliminate the use of the derogatory term ‘Latinx’ in our government, repealed COVID orders and said ‘never again’ to authoritarian mandates and shutdowns.”
At the end of her first day, Sanders signed a series of executive orders, including an immediate freeze on new government hiring and new government regulations, as well as an order “preventing the political indoctrination of Arkansas’ school children.”
She said, “As long as I am governor, our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world, not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda.”
DeSantis, who will be term-limited out of office in 2026, is considered by many in the main stream media to be Trump’s heir apparent. The list of his administration’s achievements on the Florida state website is long, impressive and conservative.
In 2022, Florida not only managed to survive three hurricanes, its labor force grew by 3.4 percent over the year, more than double the national labor force growth rate over the same time period. He backed record funding for students, teacher pay, school safety, and mental health, achieving the highest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) rankings in Florida’s history, becoming the #1 ranked state in education freedom, continuing to secure the title of #1 higher education system in the nation, and implementing multiple groundbreaking laws to uphold and expand parental rights and support veterans.
In particular, Governor DeSantis signed multiple bills which reinforce parents’ rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children and prohibit classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade. House Bill 1467 protects the rights of parents to make decisions about library and instructional materials. House Bill 7 includes provisions to prevent discriminatory instruction in K-20 public schools, ensures Florida’s students are not subject to Critical Race Theory indoctrination, and defines individual freedoms based on the fundamental truth that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights.
Keeping Florida’s children in school during Covid put Florida students well ahead of their peers, especially with younger and educationally at-risk students who were harmed the most from distance-learning in other states.
In April, the Florida Department of Health issued guidance on the treatment of gender dysphoria for children and adolescents to ensure that Floridians are aware of the long-term, irreversible effects of clinical care promoted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And there’s more. To develop competent citizenry who can participate in our system of government, Florida is providing civics education to school children and professional adults. The Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act prohibits all abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. Florida is expanding comprehensive cancer care, taking steps to end substance abuse and overdose, and empowering patients. In April, Governor DeSantis signed the No Patient Left Alone Act, to guarantee Florida families the fundamental right to visit their loved ones who are receiving care in hospitals, hospices, and long-term care facilities. No health care facility in Florida may require a vaccine as a condition of visitation.
Busy Florida is shoring up infrastructure, and protecting Floridians from foreign countries, such as China, buying property in sensitive strategic areas.
So, for those in “crazy” blue states, like California, it’s reassuring to know that the borders of Arkansas and Florida are keeping the “crazy” out. And that young leaders are boldly shaping a conservative future.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/26/politics/ron-desantis-floridawhat-matters/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/politics/sarah-huckabee-sandersinauguration/
https://www.flgov.com/2023/01/09/governor-ron-desantishighlights-administrations-major-accomplishments-of-2022/
https://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2022/04/20220420-gender-dysphoria-guidance.pr.html
https://flgov.com/2022/04/06/governor-ron-desantis-signs-bill-toguarantee-visitation-rights-for-patients-and-their-families/
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/10-millennialgeneration-characteristics
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association 2022 Legislative Report Card.
‘Designing Electricity Rates for An Equitable Energy Transition’ -- Income-based utility: the latest assault on the productive in California.