October 11, 2021

To understand source requires a comparison and contrast between 1952 and 2022. Trump is viewed as source by the growing number of fascists. Making America great means source. What was Trump source of?

The best characterization of Trump is that he zeroed out reality and zeroed out government. He couldn't of course totally succeed; but it was his purpose to do so, and he created much long-term damage in trying.

Since making sense out of how zero could be source is totally impossible, a contrast tells a lot. It's the "again" in MAGA.

The first time was 1952 and the next several years. It's what Trump has in mind in terms of what he wants to get back to. In those early days of television, Saturday afternoons were dominated by "Industry On Parade." We saw how all the new-fangled manufacturing processes were working. Trump wants the auto industry to look like that.

So here's the short story made long: In some open and western parts of the country, there was a visible transition between old-style western existence and modern existence.

Coming out of WW-II and into the fifties, there was such evidence as old abandoned blacksmith shops with horseshoes on the walls, while the ceiling was caving in. Perhaps on the same block were new grocery stores or banks. Schools were transforming from tall brick buildings to low spread-out buildings. Churches were converting from wood structures with wood steps to stone edifices.

Behind the transformation was a group of rugged individualists. They had been through the dirty thirties and WW-II. They knew an awful lot of reconstructing was needed. Ike stood by and allowed it to happen with a hands-off approach. It was a grounds upward approach entirely designed at the local level.

The differences were visible in the schools. The older students were individualists as in one-man athletic teams. The newer generation consisted of the boomers who did everything as a group. I was in-between the two groups viewing them both as bewildering.

In the more industrialized areas, corporations were being created on top of corporations, meeting newly generated needs in an exponential manner. They were producing sixty percent of federal revenues. Only the high school kids worked for the minimum wage. Anyone with a job could buy a house including store clerks. Managers made sure of it. Their businesses depended upon it. A stable employee was one who had suitable means to meet needs.

This is what the history has to do with source. Meeting needs is source. Screwing everything up is destruction and ruin. Wouldn't any six-year-old know that? Not anymore. Screw everyone is assumed to be source.