Michael’s Medium Series

Michael’s Medium Travel Series

Tocqueville article published in Spanish in Argentina & Uruguay

By MichaelLa versión en Español está debajo My recent featured article on Medium about Tocqueville’s imaginary tweets has been expanded, translated and reinterpreted by my two brilliant editors in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, Martín Orthegui and Sergio Carciofi, respectively. At the Montevideo Portal, Martín did a superb editing job and translation of the expanded article to Spanish, while adding a humorous subtitle, “United Tweets of America,” and a brief intro.

Russiagate and the collapse of civic adulthood

By Michael The denial of reality NY Times columnist Farhad Manjoo, a fierce Trump critic, describes the Russiagate media coverage alleging collusion for the past two years as “a seductive delusion.” Manjoo believes this delusion was driven by the fact that “For many Americans, the simple truth that Mr. Trump really had won was too terrible to bear.” One of the most damaging aspects of the Russiagate obsession is that the Democratic

Tocqueville vs. Trump in tweets

By Michael Meurer TOCQUEVILLE’S TWEETS If Alexis de Tocqueville, author of the fabled two volume “Democracy in America” published in 1835, were alive today, his first tweet would probably be this: “Democracy depends on many things besides voting.” First among those other things in Tocqueville’s mind would be the universality of “civil association,” and he would almost certainly tweet his observation that “Americans of all ages, all conditions, all minds constantly unite.”

This time, vote like your whole world depended on it

By Michael The marketing mantra that the next election is the “most important of our lives” has been a staple of both parties for decades. As the Vietnam War raged, the 1968 Nixon campaign used the slogan “This time, vote like your whole world depended on it” in print and TV ads to arouse Nixon’s “silent majority.” Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 “Daisy ad” warning of nuclear holocaust if Barry Goldwater were

A Real National Emergency

By Michael The new abnormalThe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists calls the current political climate “the new abnormal.” Their 2019 “Doomsday Clock” is set at two minutes before midnight. Even the sober military analysts at Stratfor are warning that “weakening arms control regimes and the emergence of disruptive weapons technologies will erode global geopolitical stability” in the year ahead. From his first moments in office, President Donald Trump has wanted

The People Don’t Shutdown

By Michael The latest newsletter from Reimagining Politics is about the five week old shutdown of the US government vs. the endless political creativity of citizen activists worldwide. Just as importantly, it is about a global collapse of political legitimacy. This collapse brings with it the eclipse of foundational civilizational values of both the East and West. The irony is that we live in a world full of citizen-driven political

Drinking rattlesnake Venom

By Michael I recently had the bizarre experience in México City of drinking shots of mezcal from a jar in which a rattlesnake was being marinated. I survived the adventure, but I view it as a kind of metaphor for immersion in poisonous US politics. This is reflected in the cable news channels mainstreaming their toxic venom into the nation’s political bloodstream 24/7. They are little more than PR proxies for

The demise of the Rock River Canoe Company

The demise of the Rock River Canoe Company Loss of cultural and civic diversity rocks the boat By Michael Meurer (Clic aquí por la versión de Español.) One early spring many years ago, I traveled to Ft. Atkinson, Wisconsin to help my friend Kim Grunow build the original Rock River Canoe shop. For two weeks, Kim and I worked in the shop in the morning stripping the cement floors, painting,

Heart in a Mason Jar

March 6, 2018 by Michael (Scroll down for Spanish translation.) Heart in a Mason Jar The Anarchy of memory and emotion About a month ago, I met a woman named Rosey in the Mexican fishing village of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle where I am holed up trying to write. Rosey is her Mexican nickname, including the odd spelling. Rosey was walking at dusk to a public presentation by a British

Travelling worldwide with 1 carry-on bag

By Michael – Once I decided to begin traveling in May 2016, my itinerary started to take shape almost immediately, mainly going where I had friends. By August, after a trip to Montana to visit family, I was on the road. I started in Paris then London, Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Milan, Lugano and Copenhagen in Europe. I flew back to LA from Copenhagen and had dinner with a friend during

Saying goodbye to Mom

By Michael – Before flying to Europe last August, I had a goodbye dinner with a small group of friends in Los Angeles and also made a trip to my hometown of Billings, Montana to say goodbye to my 90 year old mother and my favourite cousin Terry Anne. Terry Anne and I had a wonderful time just chatting, getting caught up and sampling craft beers in the new brew

Michael’s Travel Series on Medium

By Michael – When it became clear to me in May, 2016, that the US election was going to be a disaster, I began sharing with friends in Los Angeles my idea of traveling to Europe and Latin America. I wrote an article about what I believed were the underlying causes of a new kind of political disorder not just in the US, but worldwide, which published in July. By