Stanley Cohen On The Shelf-life Of Kool-Aid

The View Up Here welcomes back attorney, activist and agent of change Stanley L. Cohen for a 2018 year-end discussion about the year that was and the trajectory going forward into 2019. In what seems to be the norm now, old phrases have taken on new meaning and new purpose. Never before has caveat emptor had more impact as it now seems the only rule is there are no rules. Our discussion will focus on a few of these weaponized catch phrases, their historical meaning and their new deployments. Anticipatory Obedience - Timothy Snyder has helped place this phrase in the modern lexicon. History demonstrates the consequences of this trait of human nature, the warnings of it at the end of every cycle it runs and the seemingly natural return to it despite the same old warning signs plus new ones. A psychological weakness or a learned behavior? Vichy Journalism - John Pilger has used this phrase to great effect recently, and the words themselves should be warning enough. But it is no longer a weapon of political manipulation for politics sake. Now the function is profit driven while striving for the same result. A typical systemic "win-win" with very clear winners and losers. Determine who and what fit on both sides of that equation, if you dare. Tradition Is The Democracy Of The Dead - G.K. Chesterson coined this phrase and its meaning remains contested by all sides. At what point and in what processes does adherence to "what we've always done" become limiting to progress, to evolution, to a better tomorrow? At what point is tradition used to drown out logical advances to protect the status quo and its machine from giving up some of its might? What is the common exploit, the common trigger process used to advance these historically detrimental paths? Feels. The truth remains - Feelings Are Not Facts. But everyone has them and they're open to manipulation. Up The Rebels!