John Wise

If there was any hint that on our margins, we Americans have, to some extent, become a trash society. Our current political climate seems to show that a plurality of us are fully entrenched in a race to a level of cultural vulgarity that proves beyond any doubt that we are a nation of idiots falling into hate. While mudslinging has always been part of the fabric of politics around the world and throughout history, there seemed to be a time and place for the exchange of grievances. Today, we have returned to a time where we engage the mob in an attempt to foment the most amount of rage.

When I call us a “trash society,” what I mean is that instead of having a commonality of education that allows us to see each other as more-or-less equal, we have become a polarized people of better-educated citizens able to adapt to the rapid shift in demands for intellectual flexibility and those who have failed to embrace the demands of an economy that requires intelligence able to evolve in response to the incredible speed of change that is part of modern life. Those who are failing themselves are a volatile lot; they are easy to anger and ignored for long enough there is some likelihood they will bring revolution, one that will not serve those of us who have enjoyed the prosperity that arrived with adaptability. Looking at the Russian Revolution and subsequent Red Terror, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Iranian Revolution, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and to some extent, Nazism in Germany, these movements shared something ugly in common, and that was that they targeted government officials and bureaucrats, military officers, nobility/aristocrats, wealthy merchants/landowners, religious leaders/clergy, intellectuals, professors, teachers, journalists, writers, artists, cultural figures, lawyers, judges, doctors, scientists, union leaders, political opponents, ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, wealthy peasants/farmers, student activists, civil society leaders, librarians, publishers, bankers/financiers, diplomatic corps members, police officials from previous regimes, urban professionals, social reformers, and democracy advocates.

I do have to give credit to a number of people who are proponents of accelerationism and the Dark Enlightenment movement. They look to push forward a collapse, believing that democracy is inefficient and leads to societal decay, traditional hierarchies and authorities should be restored, progressive social movements are destructive to civilization, technology and capitalism should be unleashed from democratic constraints, universities and media constitute a “Cathedral” that enforces progressive orthodoxy, and that the Enlightenment and its values were a historical mistake. That’s a ridiculously compressed version of the accelerationist movement, but you get the idea. Without dedicating thousands of words to the complexity of all sides of this desperate situation and those who are being used as pawns in a battle of wealth and power, I have to leave this here with my sad recognition that the vulgarities displayed on the streets of Phoenix are battle weapons, sowing division and mistrust between the diverse population that makes America a great country.

It’s not often I feature a restaurant on my blog as its own story, but this piece of art of the Pinches Tacos decor changed that. Not only does this little joint have great taste, but they are also making great tastes. After my fourth visit in about ten days, the co-owner started chatting with me, and I was able to share how impressed I was by their efforts. On this day, I tried their lengua (tongue) after having sampled some of their beef and pork options. I was so compelled by this business’s quality and friendliness that I even took the time to give them 5-star reviews on Google and Yelp. Find them at 7th Avenue and Union Hills in Phoenix.

It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s the telltale sign that a rocket was launched earlier this morning. For a moment, we thought these were clouds but quickly recognized that at that altitude, we were looking at the contrail of something far higher than any plane or Superman. We’ve seen this type of phenomenon one other time in the east but that time, we were lucky enough to catch sight of it while the rocket was still traveling aloft. The same happened with a rocket or two in the west, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California Coast, while today’s rocket had to be launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, about 360 miles (579 km) away as the crow flies. This means the contrail is likely around 80,000 to 100,000 feet (24.4 to 30.5 km) above sea level. We tried finding out what type of rocket and mission was conducted as these details are often shared, but not for this mysterious event. About 10 minutes later, there was no sign left of any of this.

Job loss, medical debt or health issues, mental health challenges, family crises or breakdown of support systems, housing costs becoming unaffordable, domestic violence, or substance use disorders – this was the list that Claude AI provided me to “Describe the situation of someone who might be holding a cardboard sign next to the road” (that was my prompt). It started its answer by explaining how “human beings experiencing hardship” could find themselves in this position and then produced the list of potential contributing factors.

Two homeless people recently died in the span of a few days, not a one-minute walk away from where we live. One was an overdose, and the other was a man stabbed to death by another homeless man. A day does not go by that I don’t see at least 15 homeless people, some who look barely alive while others are dragging obvious ailments around, such as broken feet that have healed with a foot now pointing in the wrong direction or open wounds. In front of fast food restaurants, bus stops, drug stores, and gas stations, the indigent struggle to survive the harsh environment of living outside. Often, those I  overhear talking about this situation appear to have strong beliefs that these human beings are simply victims of their own poor choices, but they most often attribute addiction and laziness as the reasons underlying their impoverishment. The secondary factor is that the government is giving them welfare and everything else they require, making it easy for the homeless to choose a lazy lifestyle, as though they are out on the street for no other reason than they really like holding cardboard.