The boys drink and review Pigweed’s brown ale, then discuss how low expectations harm the people they’re supposed to help. (The beer review ends at 3:53.)
George Bush made the phrase “the soft bigotry of low expectations” popular in his 2000 campaign.
The evil of this “soft bigotry” is that it comes from people who pretend to be helping. But when you fail to hold people to reasonable standards, you’re not helping them at all.
If you institutionalize low expectations to increase the participation of some group, everyone will now question the qualifications of the people in that group. How could they not?
P&C discuss how this poisonous attitude infects many areas of our culture.
It infects the SAT, grades, hiring, recruiting for schools, and even baking contests.
P&C drink and review “Oaked Vanilla Porter” by Sam Adams, then discuss isolationism (starting at 3:57).
They start off with a general definition, then talk about the history of isolationism in American politics — from the earliest days.
Americans don’t like “entangling alliances.” Or at least they say they don’t.
There’s been a strong current of isolationism in American politics since the beginning. Washington, Jefferson, and Monroe created the three pillars of American policy: neutrality, unilateralism, and non-intervention.
Also, even though we are a “nation of immigrants,” we’ve had extended periods where we didn’t allow almost any immigration.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor pretty much ended isolationism in the United States.
Now, the term “isolationist” is used as a slur, but it’s become more popular because we’re sick of sending our boys to die for other people’s problems.
As with Pearl Harbor, the attack on the World Trade Center put an end to growing American isolationism.
But it’s coming back. Trump was somewhat isolationist, and modern Republicans complain that we care more about Ukraine’s borders than our own.
Why does the United States bear most of the burden of keeping the shipping lanes open?
Is it “isolationist” to say that the United States has taken on too much of these burdens?
The boys drink and review Winter Storm, “a Category 5 ale” from Heavy Seas, then discuss populism in the U.S., and the career of Javier Milei.
Most politicians want to appear as an ordinary, regular person — at least when they’re campaigning — but a “populist” adds a critical element of a contrast between the people and the elite establishment, whom they ridicule or demonize.
Populism might become more prevalent when there’s more of a disparity between the rulers and the common man.
Populism is not left-wing or right-wing. Donald Trump is a populist, but so is Bernie Sanders. Populists appeal directly to the people and tend to bypass the establishment.
Left-wing populism has an economic focus and emphasizes economic and class struggle. They talk about redistributing resources, and are against corporations.
Right-wing populism has more of a focus on cultural and nationalistic issues. It tends to be anti immigrant.
There seems to have been more right-wing populism recently. This may be because of the growing power of the entrenched bureaucracy.
One criticism of populism is that you’re exchanging the educated, elite expert with the uneducated WalMart shoppers. The truth is that the educated elite don’t always get better results. U.S. education tanked after we created the Department of Education.
Javier Milei is a libertarian populist who recently won power in Argentina. He promises to drastically cut government spending and eliminate half of the government ministries.
P&C drink and review Paulaner’s Salvator, which is a delicious dopplebock, then review the new movie “Lady Ballers” (starting at 4:08).
The right claims that the left has been taking over the culture. The good folk at The Daily Wire have decided to start making movies to challenge the left’s hegemony in this area.
Movies from the right are often poor quality and preachy. The Daily Wire has raised the bar considerably.
“Lady Ballers” makes fun of the absolute insanity of allowing men to compete in women’s sports.
A group of washed up, former high school basketball stars pretend they’re women and completely dominate women’s basketball.
It’s not the greatest comedy, but it gets some decent laughs and it makes a very important point.
The media has mostly refused to even acknowledge that the movie exists, and when they do review it they simply cite one or two comments online. E.g., “One reviewer said …”
The boys drink and review Pigweed’s holiday beer, then discuss a few odd stories from Hans Christian Anderson (starting at 4:33).
Although he wrote a lot of other works, it’s the fairy tales that made Anderson famous.
Some of them are very well known, like The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and others.
P&C aren’t interested in these, but in Anderson’s weirder stories, so they review and discuss “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” “The Traveling Companion,” and “The Tinder Box.”
But in the spirit of the holidays they also review some of his Christmas stories: The Little Match Girl and The Fir Tree.
The boys review Crowhill’s 2023 Christmas beer, then discuss a short story from James Joyce.
Pigweed starts off with some biographical information about Joyce, and how “The Dead” fits into his collected works. The story was finished in 1907.
Gabriel Conroy is the main character, and we see some of the action through his eyes.
The whole story takes places in one snowy evening. It might have been the feast of Epiphany. The hosts have an annual musical celebration.
Joyce sets up a lot of expectations for possible tension that never come to fruition. The actual tension doesn’t appear until fairly late in the story, and it’s completely unexpected.
Conroy is the responsible man at the party. He carves the goose. He sits at the head of the table. He gives a speech. He’s a kind, educated man who is sensitive to other people’s needs and does what’s expected.
Half way through the story you’re wondering when people are going to start dying. It is “The Dead” after all.
But there are no calamities. The role of death and dying only comes out at the very end. Gabriel’s wife hears a song that reminds her of a long lost lover, which we only learn at the end. We also learn that the man is dead.
The boys drink and review Anchor’s Christmas beer, then discuss diversity.
Note: this is an older show from the archives.
Is diversity our strength? That’s what the political elite tell us. But is that true?
Diversiity has a very American sound. It reminds us of the saying on the statue of liberty, and reminds us that we’re a nation of immigrants.
But the word has become a cudgel. When Trump decided he would address the number one concern of voters — the border — the left used “diversity” as a weapon against him.
The reality is that diversity isn’t a value. It’s just a description. Diversity in and of itself doesn’t make something better or worse.
We care about outcomes, not the diversity of the people who bring about that outcome.
Also, “diversity” is very narrow. It’s been limited to sex, race, and sexual orientation. There are hundreds of other ways to categorized people. Why aren’t they part of the “diversity” cult?
What it really means is “we think there are too many straight white people.”
The boys drink and review Jailbreak’s Hey Porter, then discuss the life and career of a famous decolonizer, Francisco Macias Nguema.
Equatorial Guinea was colonized by the Spanish. Nguema started his career as a mid-level civil servant with the Spanish government. He was corrupt from the beginning, but maintained a good relationship with the Spanish.
When the tides turned and anti-colonialist sentiment grew, he saw his opportunity and ran for president. The Spanish supported him because they thought he was on their side.
He started off with a very aggressive campaign to rid the country of anything from the Spaniards.
He renamed cities and streets, and he attacked anything that was deemed a consequence of the colonists. That included education, medicine, bread — even wearing glasses.
It was a disaster. Nguema went from bad to worse and became one of the chief bastards in African history.
P&C give some context and color to the famous “Flashman Incident,” which started out as a small event in a Maryland suburb, but became one of the clearest illustrations of the dangers of #CancelCulture
The boys drink and review Crowhill’s Tavern Ale, then discuss the international outcry over the Flashman Incident.
Some stories, like this one by Hunter Allen, seem like they should stay local, but every once in a while a story catches fire and spreads across the nation.
That’s what happened when Bob dropped off an old book in the local tiny library.
Day 1 — Bob drops off the book. Pedro picks up “Flashman,” by George McDonald Frazier, which is one of the books Bob dropped off.
Day 2 — Pedro takes the book to school, where Ms. Hughes sees it and discovers it’s not appropriate for someone of Pedro’s age. She asked where he got it, and he said “the library.” Ms. Hughes assumed he meant the school library and posts her complaint to Facebook.
Day 3 — Social media explodes and demands that the school librarian be fired.
Day 4 — Twitter can’t decide whether to blame Pedro for failing to report the book, but decided to blame his parents instead.
Day 5 — Both of Pedro’s parents are called to HR and enrolled in sensitivity classes. Someone finally discovers where the book really came from, which starts a police and FBI investigation to find out who put this horrible book in the tiny library.
Day 6 — The American Psychological Association donates a series of anti-racist, pro trans, pro gay children’s books to the school system.
Day 7 — Pedro’s parents hire an attorney who reveals the true origin of the book.
Day 8 — There are calls to legislate tiny libraries to prevent something like this from happening.
Day 9 — The author becomes the latest “evil person” on social media.
From this point it’s the typical insanity on social media and the fur really starts to fly.
The story is well worth your time. It shows what happens when the mob gets upset.
The boys drink and review Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s Winter Solstice Ale, then discuss Freemasonry.
How do you learn about a secret society without becoming a member? It’s hard to know what to believe about them.
Still, P&C did their best to find the essential details.
Stone mason guilds started to have outsized political power and started to admit people who weren’t stone masons. The organization grew in numbers and power, and was very influential in the founding of the United States.
They became closely associated with Englightenment thinking and promoted the ideas of rationality and science. One of their mottos is to “make good men better.”
But what does it mean to be a mason? What about all their spooky rituals? And why is the Catholic Church against them?
The boys drink and review Brooklyn Brewery’s Winter IPA, then discuss the rich men (north of Richmond) who want to tell us how to live and control every aspect of our lives.
Seamus Bruner recently wrote a book called Controligarchs about how the super-rich want to tell all the rest of us how to live.
Bruner singles out five on his book cover: Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, and George Soros. Noticeably absent is Elon Musk, who seems to be supporting personal freedom rather than top-down dominance. (Which is why the media hates him.)
The controligarchs think they have the right and responsibility to tell us what to eat, what to drive, what to think, what to say, how to educate our children, how to spend our money ….
“You’ll eat bugs and you’ll like it.”
Unfortunately, the population doesn’t have the courage or integrity to tell them where to stuff it. As long as we have our cable TV and cheap food that can be delivered in less than 30 minutes, we’re good.
These controligarchs aren’t taking their lead from traditional, consitutional American ideals. They’re following Xi Jingping.
With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Witness Tree Nut Brown Ale from Antietam Brewery, then discuss Crowhill’s recent trip to the UAE.
While Saudi Arabia dominates the Arabian peninsula, a couple smaller nations squeeze their way in, including UAE.
After reviewing a bit of history and geography, the boys discuss Crowhill’s experiences in Abu Dhabi.
Crowhill had three goals for his trip. Swim in the Persian Gulf, visit the Grand Mosque, and eat some weird local food.
The boys discuss how the UAE maintains a national identity when only about 11 percent of the population is local. They’ve imported most of their citizens, but they still maintain a national culture and identity.
With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Saranac Caramel Porter, then discuss Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s as part of their “shortcut to the classics” series.
They start with a quick bio of Truman Capote, then dig in to the novella.
The story is set in WW2, and it’s important to get the movie out of your head before you read the book.
Holly Golightly is the star of the book. She’s a young woman who uses men for their money. It’s not clear if she’s more call girl or escort or just “woman about town.” But she’s an amoral little sprite who does what she needs to do to enjoy life and live in the style she has come to expect.
The boys disagree about how to evaluate her morals.
It’s a delightful story with a few interesting themes.
The boys drink and review Local 1605, a red ale from Antietam Brewery, then discuss McCarthyism.
Since “The Crucible,” we tend to associate the Salem witch trials with Joseph McCarthy and his work with the committee on anti-American activities. After doing a show on the Salem Witch trials (see episode 367), P&C wondered if it’s appropriate to link witch trials to Joseph McCarthy and his anti-communist crusade.
The analogy works in some respects and not in others.
* There were false accusations in both cases.
* In both cases, to be accused was bad enough.
* In both cases, you could get out by accusing other people.
* “Justice” was corrupted by mob hysteria in both cases.
* However, there were no witches or witchcraft in Salem, but there were communists in the United States.
The “red scare” was legit. There was a fight to the death between communism and the west. But that doesn’t justify McCarthy’s methods to root out that threat.
P&C provide a brief review of McCarthy’s life, then examine his methods and tactics and what we should learn about it today.
