Monkey's Dad's definitions
The historic root of human dysfunction. The sense that each of us belongs to a group - or tribe - from which we derive our idea of who we are, what we call ourselves, what we believe, whom else is a member and who is excluded.
Whether rooting for a sports team or voting along party lines, we divide ourselves into 'us' and 'them', as humans have done for millennia. It leads us to war. At a minimum we endure a chronic state of para-warfare.
He could not fathom how she had voted for Biden! She in turn looked with speechless amazement at his mindless devotion to ... she could not bring herself to utter that reviled name! Neither could ever change the other's mind by an inch. They were exemplars of tribal identity, each believing their side was right, the other side wrong, the finding of middle ground a fantasy for Springsteen/Jeep commercials during the Super Bowl - itself a tribal enactment - and nothing more.
He could not fathom how she had voted for Biden! She in turn looked with speechless amazement at his mindless devotion to ... she could not bring herself to utter that reviled name! Neither could ever change the other's mind by an inch. They were exemplars of tribal identity, each believing their side was right, the other side wrong, the finding of middle ground a fantasy for Springsteen/Jeep commercials during the Super Bowl - itself a tribal enactment - and nothing more.
by Monkey's Dad July 27, 2021
Get the Tribal Identity mug.Observing the near-empty streets, theaters and gyms, seeing people all around him wearing masks, avoiding doorknobs, refusing to take the subway or eat in public, watching as nobody is shaking hands, the germaphobe felt that what he had known for years was finally sinking in.
by Monkey's Dad March 6, 2020
Get the Germaphobe mug.Many believed the singer could influence her millions of followers to vote Democratic. Others saw in the congresswoman's ability to grab the spotlight for any utterance, no matter its content, a promise of actual Conservative leadership. They were all swirling in the media's Marjorie Taylor Swiftification of culture, blurring the separation of Stage and State.
by Monkey's Dad January 12, 2024
Get the Marjorie Taylor Swiftification mug.Code name for an early email chain among a prominent group of medical experts, sounding the alarm about coronavirus. For months it was ignored by the president, who said of the pandemic, "It will disappear as if by magic".
If the president had not refused to listen to the Red Dawn warnings, the pandemic could have been much more effectively controlled in the United States.
by Monkey's Dad April 12, 2020
Get the Red Dawn warnings mug."Once upon a time, in the olden days, people would get into a metal tube, which would rise up in the sky, and when they got out of it, a little while later, they were in a completely different part of the world."
Yes, sweetheart, it's really true. It was called "air travel". Now, as soon as Daddy closes your door, take off your mask, close your eyes, and have sweet dreams.
Yes, sweetheart, it's really true. It was called "air travel". Now, as soon as Daddy closes your door, take off your mask, close your eyes, and have sweet dreams.
by Monkey's Dad April 21, 2020
Get the air travel mug.The day and night sharing of life during the pandemic, shut off from the known world, making home start to feel like Middle Earth.
Having been under one roof for months, losing track of the outside world, she gradually began to think of their relationship as cohobbitation, each of them now slightly different than normally human.
by Monkey's Dad July 17, 2020
Get the cohobbitation mug.Page one of The New York Times, May 24, 2020 - a list of nearly 100,000 names of Americans who have died from coronavirus in the past few weeks.
by Monkey's Dad May 24, 2020
Get the the names mug.