{"id":23523,"date":"2024-12-21T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T01:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=23523"},"modified":"2024-12-30T11:19:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T19:19:13","slug":"children-adults-who-think-like-children-and-adults-who-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/12\/21\/children-adults-who-think-like-children-and-adults-who-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Children, Adults Who Think Like Children, and Adults Who Don&#8217;t"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Trump doesn&#8217;t need to keep his promises because he&#8217;ll just claim that he has, and blame his enemies when it&#8217;s obvious he has not;<\/li>\n<li>How the threat of government shutdown reveals the Republicans as the party of &#8220;no&#8221;, recalling William F. Buckley;<\/li>\n<li>In Louisiana, don&#8217;t say vaccine;<\/li>\n<li>How to reduce crime via proven solutions, and not prayer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/12\/19\/opinion\/19bruni-newsletter-image\/19bruni-newsletter-image-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, Frank Bruni, 19 Dec 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/19\/opinion\/donald-trump-promises.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jU4.ryq-.ugFkVp_Ij2-S&amp;smid=url-share\">What if Trump Doesn\u2019t Need to Keep Any of His Promises?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Short answer: all Trump has to do is tell his fans that he *has* kept his promises, and they&#8217;ll believe him. <!--more-->After all, they don&#8217;t trust the mainstream media, or government statistics, so how are they to know? If grocery prices go up, Trump will find some way to blame Biden, or the deep state. This sort of thing could go on for quite a while. But indefinitely? And what will happen when Trump has had enough of Musk running the show? Bruni:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>No president in my lifetime has been elected in such a corrupted information environment, and no president has so shamelessly participated in its corruption.<\/p>\n<p>If Trump fails by established metrics, he\u2019ll <a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2024\/12\/10\/trump-tax-policy-math-gop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declare those metrics bogus and delegitimize the experts and agencies<\/a> that calculate them. And there\u2019ll be no shortage of partisan players in the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2022\/05\/social-media-democracy-trust-babel\/629369\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Babel of news media and social media<\/a> to support him in that scheme. We saw that when they indulged his lies after the 2020 election. They\u2019ve grown only more submissive since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If Americans under Trump are demonstrably and undeniably hurting as much as they were under President Biden, he\u2019ll weave stories and hurl accusations that absolve him of responsibility and assign it to his political foes. And he\u2019ll find many more takers than he would have before we could all customize the reports we receive so that our designated heroes remain unblemished, our appointed villains irredeemable, our biases affirmed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Just say no.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/UBEHFBXYESTUH5SKLFXGPZKBBI_size-normalized.jpg&amp;w=916\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington Post, Megan McArdle, 20 Dec 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2024\/12\/20\/republicans-government-shutdown\/\">Republicans\u2019 obsession with saying \u2018no\u2019 will get them nowhere<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The GOP\u2019s latest flirtation with a government shutdown shows the lack of a meaningful agenda.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Every great nation has its great romantic tragedies, those star-crossed lovers who succumb to reckless passion, heedless of convention or personal cost. Ancient Rome had Antony and Cleopatra. France had Napoleon and Josephine. And modern America has the Republican Party\u2019s helpless, hopeless love affair with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2024\/12\/20\/government-shutdown-bill-continuing-resolution\/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shutting down the government<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As with all great loves, their fervor is wholly irrational. Shutdowns annoy voters, who tend to blame Republicans for that annoyance. Nor does it save any appreciable amount of money, because the major entitlement programs keep rolling out checks, and the furloughed federal workers eventually collect back pay for the time they spent twiddling their thumbs. As for using a shutdown as a political bargaining chip \u2026 well, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/mitch-mcconnell-federal-government-shutdown-republicans-lose-rcna108005\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> told reporters<\/a> last year, \u201cThey never have produced a policy change, and they\u2019ve always been a loser for Republicans politically.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wpds-c-PJLV article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p class=\"wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy\" dir=\"null\" data-testid=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-apitype=\"text\" data-contentid=\"OVUOEN6F4FHH5PQG22NNT65U4Q\" data-el=\"text\" data-scroll-pos=\"2\" data-scroll-measured=\"true\">Why, then, do Republicans keep flirting with this destructive, abusive old flame? Because too many Republicans haven\u2019t grasped a basic political lesson: In the game of politics, it is not enough for your enemies to lose. You actually have to win.<\/p>\n<p>Try to think back to the last time the Republican Party had an agenda that didn\u2019t boil down to \u201cno\u201d? It\u2019s pretty difficult, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As William F. Buckley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/quotes\/732749-a-conservative-is-someone-who-stands-athwart-history-yelling-stop\">once said<\/a>, conservatives are those who simply want to stop history. They&#8217;re comfortable with they learned as a child (i.e. what their religion taught them). And they would deeply prefer that everyone not bother them with any inconvenient facts about the world or the other people in it that would challenge those verities and oblige them to possibly, oh however inconveniently, change their minds. The horror. They would remain, in some intellectual sense, children forever. Perhaps adults who manage to think past childhood myths are to adults who don&#8217;t, as those adults are to children. I should write this down.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>In Florida, it&#8217;s Don&#8217;t Say Gay. Now in Louisiana, it&#8217;s Don&#8217;t Say Vaccine.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1760x1320+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2b%2F7b%2F93df68c244cc964919c87a1201f8%2Fnolo-vax.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NPR, from Morning Edition, 20 Dec 2024<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2024\/12\/louisiana-bans-officials-from-promoting-vaccines\/\">via<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/shots-health-news\/2024\/12\/20\/nx-s1-5223440\/louisiana-ban-public-health-promoting-covid-flu-mpox-vaccines-landry-rfk-jr-anti-vaccine\">Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Faith vs. Reality.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/onlys.ky\/content\/images\/size\/w2640\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/reducing-crime-is-easy-and-we-actually-know-how.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>OnlySky, Phil Zuckerman, 19 Dec 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/onlys.ky\/reducing-crime-is-easy-and-we-actually-know-how\/\">Reducing crime in the coming years is easy\u2014and we actually know how<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The article&#8217;s subtitle gives away its premise: &#8220;Will the future include more or less violent crime? It depends on whether we rely on prayer, as many politicians are suggesting, or apply proven solutions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In the Middle Ages, in the villages and hamlets of Northern Europe, when a spate of violent crime would erupt, local chieftains and magistrates would call for \u201croaming prayer groups\u201d to combat the societal scourge.<\/p>\n<p>Nah, just kidding. That\u2019s Republican leaders spitballing in the here and now.<\/p>\n<p>Take for example former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, who once put forth a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/republican-governor-hopes-fight-crime-prayer-patrols-msna993181?ref=onlys.ky\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">plan<\/a>\u201d to fight an uptick in crime by having faith leaders walk corner to corner in 10-block sections of various neighborhoods and pray. Yep. Two to three times a week was determined to be the most effective frequency.<\/p>\n<p>As the good governor tweeted: \u201cPrayer WILL change things.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>No, it won&#8217;t. Grow up; acknowledge reality. Such as.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Study after study over the course of a half-century or more has demonstrated the ways in which positive, active engagement with vulnerable populations can significantly reduce crime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Then follow examples of social programs that helped people, the kind of things conservatives are against.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Preventing-Violence-Prospects-Tomorrow-Gilligan\/dp\/0500282781?ref=onlys.ky\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">so many more such programs<\/a> out there, not just within the United States, but around the world, that focus on vulnerable populations, provide them with supportive help, and thereby effectively decrease overall criminal activity. Such programs certainly cost money, but they are much cheaper and more cost-effective than not having them. Indeed, it is much more efficient, to say nothing of being more humane, to invest in preventative social welfare programs than to build and staff prisons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The writer concludes,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It\u2019s pretty easy to understand how much of this works: when people live in poverty and do not have jobs or good job prospects, when vocational training is scarce, when they can\u2019t get a good education, when they can\u2019t afford decent housing, when they don\u2019t have access to health care, when they feel a deep sense of hopelessness \u2014 all of this breeds despair, humiliation, and shame. And this in turn creates unstable homes wracked with frustration, anger, and violence. Add drugs and alcohol into the mix, and things only gets worse. Such households are more likely to produce children who \u2013 experiencing insecurity, abuse, and neglect \u2014 are much more likely to become violent and criminally-involved as they grow up. It is thus no coincidence that nearly all of the states with the highest <a href=\"https:\/\/worldpopulationreview.com\/state-rankings\/murder-rate-by-state?ref=onlys.ky\">murder rates<\/a> \u2013 such as Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas \u2013 also tend to have the highest <a href=\"https:\/\/worldpopulationreview.com\/state-rankings\/poverty-rate-by-state?ref=onlys.ky\">poverty rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce violent crime, reduce poverty and inequality by providing health care, quality education, job training, affordable housing, and a variety of needed social services for all. Do this, and violent crime will plummet.<\/p>\n<p>No prayers needed, no gods required.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump doesn&#8217;t need to keep his promises because he&#8217;ll just claim that he has, and blame his enemies when it&#8217;s obvious he has not; How the threat of government shutdown reveals the Republicans as the party of &#8220;no&#8221;, recalling William &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/12\/21\/children-adults-who-think-like-children-and-adults-who-dont\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,54,20,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservative-resistance","category-politics","category-psychology","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23523"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23557,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23523\/revisions\/23557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}