my thoughts

Jonathan Simeone

It’s Time for Civil Disobedience

The verdict for this episode is: nothing else will work.

In this episode, I discuss how our only shot at a government that works for us is through civil disobedience.

Rough Transcript

Hello, and welcome to Jonathan’s Verdicts.
I’m Jonathan Simeone.

The title of this episode is:
It’s Time for Civil Disobedience. The verdict for this episode is: nothing else will work.

I really hate to say this, but it’s true.

I have been following politics since 1988.
Over the years, I have become increasingly concerned with the lack of representation, a lack of equity,
And, frankly, the lack of compassion for the people demonstrated by our elected officials. But now I feel more hopeless than I’ve ever felt about things

.

The lack of compassion is at an all time high.
The lack of empathy is at an all time high.
The lack of spirit and cooperation is at an all time high.
And, sadly, selfishness and greed, are at an all time high.

The truth is so many of the problems we face were avoidable.
Many of them, except for maybe climate change, can still largely be mitigated.
But we simply don’t have enough people who care

.

That is especially true for the people we have elected to represent us. Neither party cares. No politician truly cares.
It is all about special interests.
It is all about money.
And it is entirely corrupt.

As I have said before, protests have been shown to be irrelevant. They simply don’t work any longer.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder,
Democrats are now calling for more police.
In the aftermath of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Democrats in the House, at least in the House Armed Services Committee, want to give the Pentagon $24 billion more than even Biden requested.

We are on an endless loop of war, savagery, discrimination, inequity, and oppression.

And if we don’t engage in civil disobedience,
the kinds of civil disobedience that will really get their attention,
I don’t think there is reason for optimism.
And I truly Hate–hate saying that.

So what kinds of civil disobedience should we engage in?
Honestly, I don’t know right now. Civil disobedience, is a personal thing.
I think we have to be very strategic about what we as individuals and what we as a collective could do to engage in the appropriate amount of civil disobedience.
I don’t know what my contribution to a future of civil disobedience will look like.
But I do know I’m ready.

Because I do care about other people.
I do care about the world.
I care about the animals.
I want our air and water to be clean.
I want all of the stuff that so many pay lip service to to actually matter

.

So, I’m ready.
I will engage in civil disobedience. Once I figure out how I can best do so.
I’m open to ideas. Please contact me.
And in your own lives, I hope many of you will look at how you can contribute.
Because this won’t be fixed through voting.
It won’t be fixed through protesting.
If we continue to do the things that they expect from us, if we continue to play within the rules that they have rigged,
we’re doomed.

So with that,
good luck.
Because I think we’re going to need it in the next few months.
And here’s to a future of civil disobedience

.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Jonathan’s Verdicts

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Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing Muhammad Ali His Life and Times

Thomas Hauser’s Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times was one of the most influential books I have read. So many times I found myself thinking about people, politics, government, society, racism, sexism, or ableism.

While I typically don’t enjoy biographies, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times was a true exception. Of all the people that have ever lived, Muhammad Ali is one of the people I would most like to meet.

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The Lack of Blind Mentors

For the month of July, I mentored a high school student interested in a job in the field of accessibility. While I really enjoyed the experience, I found myself regularly thinking about the lack of mentors for blind children. As someone who was born blind, this is a topic I have been thinking about for nearly my entire life.

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Jonathan Simeone

The Left is Losing

The verdict for this episode is: if the left doesn’t have better messaging, the left will never win.

Transcript

Below is my latest effort to produce a textual representation of my podcast episodes. It’s not where I want it to get, but it’s better than my previous effort.

Hello, and welcome to Jonathan’s Verdicts. I’m Jonathan Simeone.

The title of this episode: is The Left is Losing. The verdict for this episode is: If the left doesn’t have better messaging, the left will never win.

As always, I don’t edit these podcast episodes, and I do not have a script. They are just a chance for me to talk about whatever is on my mind

.

Before getting into the substance of this episode, I want to discuss my attempts to create a transcript. So folks who are deaf or hard of hearing can follow along. I would give last week’s effort, a solid b minus. Recording without a script, and then turning that into a transcript,
even with the captions from Zoom, is not particularly easy. I think I have to have a more realistic goal, at least for now. I hope to find a better solution to this than I’m doing now, but for now, my goal is simply going to be to take the captions and turn them into a usable piece of text.

With that being said, let’s get into the substance of the podcast.

The left is losing.
As a leftist, it hurts me to say that. But we have to be honest. And the reality of it is Joe Biden’s approval ratings are around 60% in most, if not all of the major polls. In some of them he’s over 60%.

About a third of the country would still vote for Donald Trump.

Maybe one or 2%, if that, would vote for a Green Party candidate or some other real leftist candidate.

So, the left is taking a beating.

The reason we are taking a beating is the messaging. And I’m going to be really blunt here. The vast majority of Americans have health insurance. Maybe they don’t like it. Maybe it doesn’t meet all their needs. Maybe they know it’s too expensive. But they have health insurance.

They don’t care about Medicare for All in the way it is being sold to them by the left. They have insurance. They’re afraid of higher taxes. They’re afraid of losing what they have.

If the messaging doesn’t encompass what they get from Medicare for All, and that is insurance not being tied to their jobs, cheaper, insurance, potentially more money in their pocket, if their employer chooses to reinvest some of that money in the workforce. There are many other benefits. No deductibles, not really very many copays, and more services and benefits.

But that is the message that has to be sold in a country where 30 or 40 million people are uninsured and roughly 300 million people are insured.

Even if most of it is crappy.

You have to speak to the insured population to sell the idea of completely overhauling the health care that people have come to know.
It’s that simple.

The same thing is true with things like student loan forgiveness. You know even Biden is out there talking about forgiving Ivy League debt. Just total nonsense. So many of us, including me, did not go to an Ivy League school. We racked up 10s of thousands in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt to better ourselves. The messaging has to change on that.

We have to figure out how to sell these ideas to a much cross section of society. The left has to imagine the leftist coalition, as being broader and more inclusive than it does today. What that means is we have to look at not just including people who want to do things because the changes we are talking about benefit them directly or because the changes we want to see make society a better place. The left has to understand that most people are motivated by fear and by selfishness, way more than they are motivated by altruism and doing the right thing. The messaging from us has to acknowledge and address that reality.

The Democrats and the Republicans are spectacular at this. The republicans sell irrational fear better than anyone could. That’s their whole thing. They get people to believe truly lunatic stuff.

Democrats scare to a lesser extent, But the Democrats also buy into the w’ere protecting you from them. You know, we’re not going to ask you to sacrifice for them.

Why, because they know that sells more then help your neighbor.

That sucks. It truly does, but it’s true.

The left is losing by a lot. If the left does not change its messaging, the left will never win.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Jonathan’s Verdicts. I appreciate your support.

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Jonathan Simeone

Choosing Between Popularity and Effectiveness

If you are interested in achieving systemic change, you can’t be popular. Most people resist change. Some appreciate the privilege they get from current systems. Some think change is too hard and it should be incremental. Some think the change you want should come after the change they want. No matter what the reason, a desire to implement change means a change agent must choose between popularity and effectiveness.

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Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing Ball Four

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Jonathan Simeone

Biden Ignores Science Too

The verdict for this episode is: corporate profits matter more than lives.

Transscript

Below is my first attempt to use Zoom to help me create a transcript for a podcast episode. Obviously, I need more practice.

Hello, and welcome to Jonathan’s verdicts. I’m Jonathan Simeone.

The title of this episode is: Biden ignores science too. The verdict for this episode is: corporate profits matter more than lives.

Before getting into the substance of this podcast,
I want to address a long standing issue that I have talked about before.

And honestly, one that has prevented me from recording more podcast episodes than I have.
That is a way to make the podcast episodes accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing

.

It has really frustrated me that I have never been able to solve that problem.
So today, I’m trying something new.
I’m using the Zoom platform to record this podcast, and also to make a transcription of what I’m saying.

My plan is to then edit the transcription file and post it to my website with the podcast episode.
If this works, it will solve my problem and make the podcast episodes accessible to more people.

So if you have any comments about this new way I’m doing the podcast, please let me know.

You can contact me at Jonathan@JonathanSimeone.com. Or you can find me on Twitter at Jonathan_Ufi.

As always, I don’t edit these podcast episodes, and I don’t have a script. They are just a chance for me to talk about whatever is on my mind.

So to refresh, the title of this episode is: Biden ignores science too. The verdict for this episode is: corporate profits matter more than lives.

Now, obviously, people who are at all familiar with my content know that corporate profits mattering more than lives is a constant theme in my communication.
Because I truly believe it.

That being said, I think what happened this week really highlights how true that is. Because here’s the straight up truth.

There is no scientific justification to advise vaccinated people to stop wearing masks. There is no rational reason to do that, especially if your primary concern is saving lives and keeping people from getting sick.

Because here’s the thing.
There are breakthrough cases, people who become vaccinated, And then get the virus.
An interesting case was reported this week where New York Yankee shortstop Gleyber Torres, had the virus last year, became fully vaccinated, and now has the virus again.

So, this is a person who’s fully vaccinated, whose body presumably generated antibodies from his first infection, and yet he’s infected again.
Although the chances are much smaller, it is undeniably true that vaccinated people can get, can transmit, and can even become sick and die from the virus.

So why is this happening? Why is someone who ran on we respect science, I’m going to listen to the scientists. Why is this happening?

There’s a very simple reason.
Companies are having trouble making money.
Businesses are having trouble staying open. Yes, there’s the political concern that people really are tired of this, and they just want to go about what they remember as their lives.
That’s true.
But this is about money. Offices need to open up.
People need to go back to work. People need to earn money so they can buy stuff and pay their rent.

And because the government has adopted a vaccine or bust strategy,
it must get as many people vaccinated as possible. That’s just the truth of it.

But again, if you are truly interested in keeping yourself safe.
If you are truly interested in protecting the people around you.

Whether you are vaccinated or not, whether you have waited two weeks past your second dose or not, you really should wear a mask.

Yeah, it sucks.
It’s not the most comfortable thing. I don’t like doing it either.
But that’s the reality of it. Biden’s CDC is ignoring science because it puts profits over the value of our lives.
That’s just a fact. It may be an uncomfortable fact for people.

But here’s the bottom line.
I would love to see someone ask the CDC, ask Biden’s press secretary, and Biden himself,
can you tell people that this new policy around vaccinated people not wearing masks will not result in additional deaths?

The problem is if they tell the truth,
they can’t say that.

What they have decided is that they are comfortable with losing a certain amount of lives with a certain amount of potentially serious illness.

That’s what they’ve decided. It’s up to each and every one of us as individuals to decide if that’s the game we want to play.
Do we want to risk our safety, even for those of us for whom this risk is small. Do we want to risk the safety of those around us.

Just because the government is irresponsible and quite frankly doesn’t care about all lives the same way.

The last point I want to make is
this is another example of how the work done by essential workers is essential,
but so-called essential workers are expendable.

They are truly expendable to the ruling class, restaurant workers, grocery workers, and the like.
They will experience more death and more illness,
because of what Biden and his CDC have done.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Jonathan’s verdicts.
I appreciate your support.

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Jonathan Simeone

Reviewing the Bottom of the 33rd

Dan Barry’s The Bottom of the 33rd tells the story of a 33-inning game played between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings in 1981. As a fan of baseball, I have been interested in this game since first hearing about it as a child. I would love to hear the recording of the radio broadcast of this game. It must have been a truly amazing event.

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