by Tom Evslin
“You’re not needed.”
Terrible thing to tell a person. We’re descended from tribal ancestors as far back as when we were swinging from trees. Anyone in a tribe who “isn’t needed” is well on the way to being out of the tribe. A tribal animal without a tribe usually ends up dead. Not being needed makes us anxious, to say the least.
But “you’re not needed” is the message we send to people when we tell them that we’ll feed them and clothe them and house them whether or not they “choose” to work. The message isn’t only morally and ethically wrong, it’s also incorrect. We do need the contribution of everyone who can work even with automation. We have an aging population (including me) who will need more and more care and be able to contribute less and less. Our infrastructure is decrepit and needs to be revamped to deal with the effects of climate change. We’re short of housing. Population has peaked in almost all developed countries and is on the verge of a worldwide decline. We need all hands on deck. There’s no good reason to signal to anyone that they’re not needed.
One of the pathologies that afflict people who have been told they are “unneeded” is drug abuse. The difficulty or recovering from addiction has been compounded by another terrible message:
“You’re not responsible for your addiction.”
Sounds like a nice thing to say but it isn’t. It says you are helpless. It says you have no agency. It says you are dependent on others.
We know from the long experience of Alcoholics Anonymous that only people who take responsibility for their addiction can be cured. Saying “I’m Tom and I’m an alcoholic” has been a first and necessary step to a cure for many Toms. According to the signs sponsored on the windows of Burlington Airport by a proliferation of drug-treatment nonprofits, there isn’t even such a thing as drug abuse; people have “substance use disorder”. Apparently their treatment should start by saying “I’m Tom and it’s not my fault. I can’t do anything about my addiction. I need a safe place to take my drugs.” It is incredibly hard to break an addiction; we make it harder by telling people that they are not in control of their own lives.
“You’re not from our tribe.”
Because tribalism is in our DNA, it’s easily resurrected by demagogues. The often-successful melting pot which is the USA is being stirred into a toxic caldron by reawakening old tribalisms and inventing new ones. The endless conflicts in the Middle East and the ignored but just as deadly wars in Africa come from tribalism (sometimes reinforced by religion). We’re not Americans first and then possibly an ethnic heritage (or two or three); we’re ethnic first and not so sure we want to be Americans. We’re not Americans who try to figure which people we want to govern us; we’re Progressives, Democrats, Republicans, MAGAs trying to assure that our minority rules. We’re not people; we’re cis-gendered men, women, L,G,B,T,Q, and/or+. Our civil rights are not the ones the creator endowed all people with, they come from our tribes and are at the expense of other tribes. This doesn’t work.
Charmed Phrases
“We need your work.” (we’ll help you find some)
“Only you can cure your addiction.” (we’ll help you if you want to be cured).
“E Pluribus Unum.”
The author, an author, entrepreneur, former Vermont state cabinet officer, lives in Stowe. He founded NG Advantage, a natural gas truck delivery company. This commentary is republished with permission from his blog, Fractals of Change.
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Categories: Commentary
speaking of tribes/// jacob rothschild 87 is dead///
Speaking of demon seeds, the Truth is it is not about tribes, it’s about the bloodlines. The advents of 23&me, shoving swabs up to everyone’s cranium, and innoculating the populace with gene altering gunk, is by design to target, alter, and/or eliminate a good portion of the human species – according to the bloodlines. Listen to Yuval Noah Harari for more details. The commentary is grasping to make sense of societal collapse. It has happened over and over for 2000+ years. Those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it. The good news is God wins each and every time. Last warnings all ready issued…take heed or fall headlong into the abyss.
A third I would like to add is: “You’re a woman”.
Women have been led to believe that the slaughter of their own babies by their own hands is “empowering” and of a feministic pursuit.
Women have been led to believe that allowing males in their bath & locker-rooms and onto their sports teams is “equitable” and “tolerant” while it flies in the face of science & usurps their chances at athletic scholarships, Olympic opportunities and endangers the very safety & lives of females everywhere.
Women have been taught that agreeing to the contemptable notion that selling their very bodies to consumers in a “free” market, in similar manner under which livestock is sold in a cattle auction, is demonstrating “freedom” and “liberal” mindedness.
Women have been led to believe that being silent in the face of the horrific sexual & physical abuse & even murder that their sisters face daily in most Middle Eastern countries demonstrates both “religious and racial tolerance”.
Women have been led to believe that they hold equal standing in American society and on platforms such as VDC wherein occasional vicious misogynistic comment remains thoroughly acceptable, and wherein simply possessing a female name leaves one susceptible to being dogged and trounced by hordes of mostly male posters when delivering an opinion that dares to contradict theirs.
To wit, the publishers of this otherwise fine news platform to which I contribute financially will surely now be very vocally “protected” and defended from my opine in this regard by others. To wit.
“Our infrastructure is decrepit and needs to be revamped to deal with the effects of climate change.”
Yes, our infrastructure IS decrepit. Yes, it DOES need to be revamped. But the problem isn’t “climate change” (Ooooohh, insert scary phrase for effect). Climate has changed over the centuries and will always continue to change.
The problem is that Vermont (and to be fair, many other states) hasn’t done a whole heck of a lot to upgrade our infrastructure since at least the 1970s. Aside from regular road paving and occasional bridge repair, what has been done?
How about some fresh ideas? How about a flood control dam or two on the Winooski? How many times are we going to spent billions repairing Montpelier and Waterbury? And there are several other rivers that would benefit from the same. Look at pictures from 1927, 2011, and 2023. The worst damage is always in the same damn places! Brattleboro. Ludlow. Bridgewater. Killington. Mendon. And yet nothing has been done. What do you always see in these floods? I see culverts under roads that become overwhelmed. Well, duh! If flood control dams aren’t feasible, how about putting in far bigger pipes that can handle the effects of heavy rains/runoff without clogging?
What about Otter Creek? How about dikes in the most populated areas that are always affected? West Rutland. Pittsford. Brandon. Sudbury, Leicester.
We need to adapt, not the climate. The billions being thrown away on “reducing CO2” could have solved many of the above problems already, no?