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Feb 14, 2023Liked by Robert Reich

Shame requires that a person have a conscience and some sort of moral compass that gives direction between what's right and wrong. None of these people have a conscience that might cause them to consider or ask themselves are they doing the right thing. Worse yet, they don't care. Power, money and position is omnipotent for these people and until that changes there continue to be no shame whatsoever that might give someone pause to alter behavior for the good.

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I wrote about this too, and good grief, the critics that came out to tell me how wrong I was, and that Trump is actually a really great person. It was hilarious the way people tried to defend him, and make light of what happened.

The death of shame is right! Republicans have no shame anymore!

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Is this the low point in US society? Will civility return? Who is teaching children to respect themselves and others? And why did President Biden not stop his speech and ask the ignorant and disrespectful and stupid members to leave? In my opinion, he should have, while the whole world was watching. That would have shifted power in that moment, at least for that moment, and it would have made it right. Those are the kind of actions that must happen, constantly, in order for things to be made right. It should become the mission of every person with a social conscience. Congress is not a stage for performers. It needs to be restored to a place where there is serious debate and deliberation about serious matters.

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American society has been headed in this direction for a long time and social media put it on the fast track. My only question is - is there a way out of this and where do we go from here?

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Why do they do it? Because they finally figured out that they CAN .... without any painful repercussions. I can imagine hearing their thoughts when they behaving at their worst: "Whatcha gonna do about it? Nuthin'! That's what."

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Where does this lack of shame, and the changing social norm come from? Many sources I feel, and most of those were set in place when these kids were very small. Many years ago, my mother taught school, second grade, and she told me that kids were changing, becoming less respectful and more disruptive in the classroom. She blamed the introduction of TV's and working mothers. When you add many of the stresses of today, along with lack of respect for others, and religious 'righter's', you get folks who are intolerant of anyone else who thinks different from themselves. What I don't understand is where did the hate we are seeing come from.

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Yes. I've been saying the same thing for years. When bald faced liars are exposed...no shame. When embarrassing acts and words are revealed...no shame. Ends justify means. To me, the perfect symbol for this era is the diamond encrusted or massive gold crucifix worn as a necklace, frequently on a scantily-clad bod. The disconnects between humility and piety and conspicuous displays of wealth and sexuality tell us everything we need to know about our contemporary values. Damn right, I'm making judgments. It's the people who sanctimoniously condemn judgment-making who empower this amoral behavior.

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I wonder whether part of the problem isn't capitalism itself. One of the ways Adam Smith used the phrase "the invisible hand" (our current usage of the phrase to talk about the power of the market comes from Milton Friedman, not Adam Smith) was to talk about the cultural forces that would prevent capitalism from consuming itself. One of those forces was the shame one feels from doing things that threaten social cohesion. What Smith did not anticipate was that capitalism would undermine and eventually consume one after the other of the institutions and habits that made up the invisible hand of restraint. Now billionaires like Musk and wanna be billionaires like Trump revel in flaunting not only social morés (don't be an a**hole), but in breaking the law and getting away with it. Instead of being ashamed, they glory in it. The media knows that the way to make money is to feature such people. The rest of us, as has been true for most of history, model ourselves on prominent people. A**holery grows and metastasizes like a cancer because it is rewarded. Healthy shame is outmoded. The new shame is poverty, not antisocial behavior.

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Robert, great article for elevating shame as a discussion point in a public forum. You and I are contemporaries in age. Shame’s decline commenced decades ago. We have shared a front row seat to its decline. When each individual is now sufficiently autonomous to define, reside, and preside in that person’s universe, why the surprise? We used to appear to be a people defined by virtues and principles common to all...not so anymore. What follows?

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Americans' pride in their ignorance feeds a "no shame" mindset.

When American colleges proudly pimped itself out as institutions which sold degrees (beginning in the early 1990s) to under-achieving students, you know our democracy was in trouble.

As a former college instructor myself, I got tired of the pressure (from administrators, deans, colleagues) to pass unprepared or under-prepared students along to the next class/the next level nevertheless (can't have those high attrition rates, eh?). I also got tired of feeling like a prostitute pimped out by those shameless educational leaders who are no longer educational leaders but shameless sell-outs. Capitalism rocks; democracy and menschhood...not so much, eh? Whaddya think, Robert Reich?

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This shameless has even invaded the sports world. Nationally followed sports commentators are openly saying that in a national championship, in the most recent case, Sunday’s Super-bowl, late in the game the referees should swallow the whistle. Even in a case ,where the player openly acknowledged he broke a rule, a nationally broadcast commentator said he thought this should be the case. This broadcaster had picked the offending team and eventual loser, as his winner before the game. He even miss reported the penalty called by confusing it with another rule that would have justified the outcome desired. He did this despite he fact he knew fans had confused the two rules. Money wagered and lost might have been won if the referee only swallowed the whistle. Rules be dammed! Ratings and being an apologist for supporters of cheating losers apparently I are KING.

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Captain's log, Stardate 02132023. We are approaching the strange planet LInkedIn, a mish-mash of personality, good counsel and oddballs. I beamed down for a closer look. High in the banner is a president, hitherto unknown and now famed across this globe of chat, and some chits. His name: Zelenskiy. A man of honour, prescience and persuasion. A man of war in a war but peaceably friendly.

I home in on a comment celebrating the prospect that the UK will furnish his country with aeroplanes. Far and wide are to be heard shouts of glee: Hurrah. And my eye happens upon a lone, little German voice. It arrests my gaze and fixes it. It is crafted, out of pure honesty, a rare metal in this ore-exploited planet: "He is an actor. He is a good speaker. I don't like him."

What's not to like about Zelenskiy? The Russo-Ukrainian war is a thick dividing line on the Earth as in our minds. On it, thick as it is, there is little foothold. Whether one stand on on e side or o n the other, the stance tends to the absolute. It's not unlike many a stance throughout the Earth. That the German gentleman would gladly see Ukraine conquered is doubtful. That, he does not say, however. What he says, in simple words are that he doesn't like Mr Zelenskiy.

Thereupon, a gush, a torrent, of disdain and invective and, from me, a small voice, smaller even than Jimmy Somerville's of "Tell me why." To the rest of them, this:

"Unwürdig. Mr Kraus is Mr Kraus. Respect, please. Ladies and gentleman this is a civilised place.

"If you disagree with Mr Kraus, you may state your disagreement. I happen to like Mr Zelenskiy, but I find Mr Kraus's remark thought-provoking and if my thoughts were never provoked at LinkedIn, I'd jettison it. It is not "trolling" to raise legitimate questions about apparently hermetically sealed truths, armour in which there is no chink, and not to raise so much as a murmur of "Excuse me, may I have a slightly different opinion?"

"It is freedom Mr Zelenskiy is fighting for. Let freedom be just that - free, and not whipping up a mob to attack everyone who thinks something different."

As a gay man, I am increasingly surrounded by the untolerated who claim tolerance by unleashing intolerance. I am reprimanded, after writing a piece that pleads for fair treatment of other skin colours, for not spelling black with a capital B.

I have capital B's for a lot of people, and I mutter them in private. I grew up in a world where a stern glance from a respected elder was enough to wreak shame upon me, and it can still have that effect today. But I am no putty in a glazier's hands. I know why I feel shame. I feel it for treating others in a manner in which I'd have been angered, had they treated me that same way.

We sit upon see-saws and, if one of us edges to the end of the plank, all we do is edge ourselves towards our own end, till we all sit on extremes. That is physical balance as propounded by Archimedes. But it is not balance of the mind.

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Feb 14, 2023·edited Feb 14, 2023

There has to be some way to deflect and distract attention away from the obviously shameful behavior of an Elon Musk or a Rupert Murdoch, or the very greedy who are a big part of our problems, like global climate disaster. To keep attention away from the obvious contradictions baked into our 'Democracy', like the Electoral 'College', 'Citizens United', gerrymandering and things like the filibuster and so many inequities that allow the minority rule that encourages the outsized power of the few, who would ride roughshod all over the many. The 'Sergeant in arms' was ceremonial, and was 'unceremoniously' dismissed by the very people who should be escorted out of the Congress. There is a 'permanent crease in our 'right and wrong' ('Stand' : Sly and the Family Stone), caused by money ruling us, not decency or the rule of law. So, we get distractions! Which serve the purpose of keeping our eyes diverted from the real problem. Obscene wealth that blocks justice. The ' Supreme ' court fell to the money. Not surprising that the Sergeant of arms' dismissal hardly got a mention.

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Because of social media, it takes less time to change societal norms and ideals. Less time to lead a tribe and grow it, or even make it seem larger than it is. People who find power in nastiness can now easily become leaders, or the appearance of, via social media. It's easier to tap into more humans minds now. Humans have the propensity for being emotion-driven sheep-like followers. Combine that with rich leaders and feelings of being unfairly treated. A recipe for blind, angry unrest of a populus. They can't even see their eventual demise.

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Good observations

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A highly perceptive analysis.

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