Good point here.
We regard the German people of the early 20th Century as willfully ignorant.
That’s certainly not good, but it’s far better that today’s Trump supporters, who openly welcome authoritarianism, as it gets them what they want: white supremacy, the militarism of our cities, mass deportation, the dismantling of the federal government, Christianity in schools, the removal of LGBTQ rights, etc.
Ignorance and hate. They go together.
Here’s an excellent article that explains, from the perspective of a foreign journalist who’s covered the slide into autocracy of nations like Turkey and Hungary, why the U.S. and its people need to remain hopeful that Trump can be prevented from becoming a dictator.
I found the piece on protests particularly important.
My perspective: If Trump hasn’t “overplayed his hand” by this point, it’s hard to know when he will, and exactly what this means. Using the military to intimidate democrats in our country’s major cities, using the Justice Department to punish his enemies, quashing the criminal indictments against him, pardoning hundreds of the convicted insurrections who happen to support him, using his position as president to enrich himself, eviscerating the federal government to provide tax breaks for his mega-wealthy donors, kicking tens of millions of people off of healthcare–it’s impossible to know where this will stop.
When my son was younger, he was considering investing in a franchise, and I told him I’d help him determine if this was a sound idea. Although this concept has been dead in his mind for many years, every time I see an ad like this, I still wonder about the variables that would determine legitimacy of such an investment.
Of course, this one caught my eye, insofar as it concerns Americans’ diet as they affect environmental sustainability.
Here, I wonder about the overall top-line variables, without doing any work on this at all.
How is the company doing overall?
Dickie’s top-line revenue has decreased about 35% since its peak in 2023. That’s considerable.
Are there trends that may affect success?
The trend toward meatless restaurants is growing, driven by consumer interest in health, sustainability, and ethics. This shift is reflected in the increasing popularity of plant-based dining, with more restaurants offering vegan options and dedicated meatless establishments opening and gaining mainstream appeal. While the sector faces challenges like supply chain disruptions and competition, it is also a significant and expanding market with strong potential for innovation.
Having said that, Dickie’s target market is the young, workwear demographic, that may be less concerned about all this than more upscale markets.
How does the quality/appeal of Dickie’s stack up against its competition?
Dickie’s is the largest in its category, but it’s also the worst. Its average Yelp rating is 3.0 stars.
How has the typical franchisee done recently, considering the franchise fee, cost of operations, etc.
I don’t know; this would take some work, but it appears that the company may be under stress.
Does this package appear to me, personally?
Of course not.
First of all, I’m suspicious that the company is in a desperate attempt to rescue its failing financial position by selling more franchises.
More to the point, it sickens me that people want to eat this garbage. But that’s just me. I long for a day when Americans care about animal cruelty and environmental sustainability. Of course, I’m not holding my breath.
I hope at least some Republican voters will look up “sanctuary city.”
My Fox News-loving mom was convinced that an illegal alien could commit a violent crime like rape, robbery, or murder in a sanctuary city and the police couldn’t arrest him.
This, of course, is complete crap.
To be fair, there may be some extremely rare form of psychopathology that causes the victim to have the malady described here, but it’s categorically wrong to say that the world hates Jesus (or Buddha, or Allah, or Mohammed).
I remember my elementary school teachers very well. I recall how they were constantly bombarded with questions about gender and human sexuality.
Just kidding.
I’ve spoken with many of today’s educators, both in-the-classroom and administrators, and they say that such conversations literally never happen.
It’s almost as if this crap is designed to further engage the MAGA crowd, who have no real understanding of the subject.
Here in the United States, “not to take part in the lie,” it’s not necessary to be out there marching in the “No Kings” rallies and the rest. Everything except knuckling under counts.
In the U.S. government, we have some extremely brave individuals as well, some of whom are seeing the Justice Department taking aim against them. Do you think that people like former FBI director James Comey is going to make a plea agreement? Sure.
What happens when our institutions of higher learning become pawns of a fascist government?
Let’s hope we never find out.
Congratulations to MIT for standing up.
Though I understand the point here, I question the idea of fighting belligerent and unintelligent people.
When I was a little boy, my grandfather told me never to argue with idiots, an idea I’m sure we’ve all heard at various times in our lives.
MAGA is an unfortunate idea that will either die a natural death or propel Trump into a dictatorship. Arguing against the rank-and-file hateful idiot doesn’t appeal to me.
At left are the words of 18th Century French writer and philosopher Voltaire, one of our most beloved figures in history.
Yet, to be honest, I’m confused by this one. In particular, what would it mean to “raise oneself above the ideas of one’s time?”
Let’s start by identifying the ideas of our time. I would say that we live on the precipice of world fascism and environmental collapse, and that those we most revere are those whose lives are spent walking us back from these impending catastrophes.
What’s next? It’s impossible to know.
