Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
It helped Trump with several groups, including Evangelicals. It also reassured Israel that the US won’t demand a withdrawal to the 1947 partition boundaries (under which Jerusalem wouldn’t be part of Israel). In addition to Christians, much of Trump’s base sees the Palestinians as supporters of Islamic terrorism and the embassy move was a slap in the Palestinians’ face. As most Jews live in solid blue states, Jewish influence on American politics is minimal, so the decision to move the embassy wasn’t motivated by a desire to get Jewish votes.
Given that he didn’t disown his daughter for converting, I would say he is definitely a friend. Most Democrats believe in “freedom from religion” as a public policy goal.
Mail voting would work if:
1. The Boards of Elections and the Post Office were fanatic about keeping address records up to date.
2. Ballots were sent to voters as certified mail, signature required – guaranteeing voters received their ballots
3. They actually checked that the ballot was from the voter either by requiring them to show ID at the post office or by checking a signature on the ballot against the voter registry, which very few election boards do.
4. A ban on vote harvestingBut it won’t happen and unless Biden wins by a tremendous landslide, the election will be tainted
What’s wrong with dead people voting as long as they know to vote Democrat? It is a long tradition going back many generations.
And why would a mail carrier in a Republican area throw our perfectly good ballots when they have the option of delivering them to a Democratic vote harvester who least knows the correct way to mark the ballot.
1. Kamala Harris is a politician, as is everyone running for national office except for Trump (it is clear what he is, but he is not a politician). She knows how to adjust her views for an audience, and to minimize insulting anyone.
Based on her previous career, she is a full fledged member of the bi-coastal elites, moderate to conservative on criminal justice issues, and in many ways a 100% normal Democrat.2. Kamala Harris is distinct in that both her parents were immigrants (a West Indian, presumably descended from British slaves as are most West Indians, and an immigrant descended from an upper class caste in India). This election is the first in which none of the candidates for either national offices are descendants of those who were in America at the time of Revolution (all recent immigrants – Trump and Harris from 20th century immigrants, Pence and Biden from mid-19th century immigrants, and not a Anglo-Saxon among them).
Trump did try to ban immigration but the Democrats objected –
It turns out most infected people don’t get sick-if they admitted that in January there would have been no closures, Worldwide, more people are dying for the panic and overreaction than from the disease. Now that we know that only 1 in 20 infected people get sick, and perhaps 1 in 200 die, this will seem in retrospect like a false alarm – and Trump will seem clever for not totally falling for it
If you are a Democrat, as a point of faith, you must believe that Trump is the devil/satan/source of all evil.
Quayboardwarrior: In the late 20th century they made phone service an entitlement (meaning that the welfare program would pay for basic phone service for welfare recipients). It wouldn’t cost that much to provide a similar level of internet, especially if it included very limited graphics (perhaps on the line of glorified texting, with someway to authenticate what you were receiving). At that point, the Post Office could drop first class mail, perhaps continuing parcel service and priority mail (especially with signature required) with higher fees,
Quayboardwarrior: Postal service originally was limited to official mail, and did not include home delivery (that was added during the Civil War so women whose husbands were off fighting wouldn’t have to go to the post office, which often was run by the local inn, which often doubled as a “Beis Zenus”). Rural free delivery and parcel post were also late add-ons.
If you made internet access a entitlement (as was telephone service by the late 20th century), you could probably get rid of paper mail service.
The major impact will be on businesses that need to ship (which include many frum companies), since that will encourage the “competition” to raise rates. It also will hurt those who do not routinely use email , and especially those who lack broadband (which includes any frum families).
October surprises to save the Republicans:
A major foreign policy “coup”, such as Russia, China, Iran and or North Korea having revolutions and pro-western leader coming to power. Russia withdrawing from Ukraine, or China granting independence to Taiwan and/or Hong Kong would be just as good.
The Democrats and left-wing media admit that Covid19 was never a serious threat, and the lockdowns were never justified. The Democrats would never admit the sun rises in the east, if that clashed with their view of political correctness.
A peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, that is endorsed by the Arab League, all of whose members promptly recognize Israel. The Palestinians are unlikely to give up their claims, so this is unlikely.
Trump dying of something other than Covid19 (assassination would help the Republicans the most), such that Pence is the nominee for president, and Trump’s “deplorables” support him as their man’s chosen successor.
No more than you can blame Jews for bringing nuclear weapons into the world (and we had help). There are roughly a billion Chinese, and only a handful of bureaucrats are responsible (whether by negligence/incompetence or malice, is a different matter). From what we know how the Chinese government works, there are probably a lot more Chinese who died of Covid19 than they are announcing.
Beis Din doesn’t get a case unless someone brings the case. American courts get criminal cases when the public prosecutor (in New York, the District Attorney, of the United States Attorney) presents charges. A traditional Beis Din (when they had full criminal authority) requires witnesses to present charges. If the witnesses don’t want to present the charge, the Beis Din doesn’t hear the case. So if the witnesses don’t want to kill the criminal, the case will not be initiated. Therefore the situation in the question will never arise.
Why would the witnesses have brought the case to begin with?
In Anglo-American law the State (Crown, whatever – in the US, the local public prosecutor) brings the case and summons witnesses (sometimes against their will), and coerces them to testify in many cases.
The word “witness” in English implies a bystander with information based on what they saw. The Hebrew word עֵד should probably be translated more as “accuser” as the role of the עֵד is similar to that of a grand jury or public prosecutor in that the עֵד initiates the criminal proceeding.
Also note the Jewish courts can receive and use information from persons who do not have the status of עֵד whereas an Anglo-American court can not based in decision on the facts from someone who isn’t a “witness”.
So if two Jews give warning and witness the murder of someone, for a non-controversial example, a Nazi war criminal, and then decide that the murderer was justified in killing the Nazi, there is no requirement for them to go to Beis Din a initiate a criminal proceeding – though under American law the witnesses would be accessories if they didn’t report the murder of the Nazi, though the Prosecutor could dismiss the case “in the interests of justice” (at least under Anglo-American law, some Roman-law based systems require the prosecutor to proceed on all complaints).
Reb Eliezer: Isn’t it sad when our rabbanim are tricked by goysha scientists into doing something totally dumb. Cholera isn’t spread by breathing. The correct advice doesn’t require a mask, but does require boiling water. In the examples of telling people not to fast, that would actually be the wrong thing to do for an uninfected person. If you don’t have cholera, fasting actually makes you safer (since it was the food and drink that made people sick).
So when the goyim (and frei Jews) today announce that according to their science, we must close our shuls and yeshivos (but not their “politically correct” gatherings), we should be highly skeptical, and suggest they take a long walk off a short pier.
Adan Neira: Moshe Rabeinu was dealing with systematic, highly focused, biological (and geo-physical) warfare raged by Ha-Shem against the Egyptians. In modern terms, it was analogous to being the hostage, and following instructions from the special forces being sent to rescue you.
You can be reasonably certain they didn’t call on people to stop going to shul and to stop learning Torah.
One should also note that unlike Covid19, Spanish flu killed people of all ages, and most people infected became quite sick. Spanish flu wasn’t reported in Anglo-American media, at first, since it was considered actionable intelligence of the health of the armies – it became public knowledge when it was reported in the Spanish press, since Spain was neutral and therefore had no military censorship. It them became well known everywhere. In the USA, many people wore masks and many things were cancelled, but no one attempted to shut down the economy.
The infamous cholera epidemic cited above shows the problem with rabbinim paying too much attention to doctors. In turned out the disease was not an airborne virus, but was spread by polluted drinking water. Any quarantine measures were not warranted, and fasting would actually reduce your chance of exposure. The remedy was to acquire clean water for drinking, washing and preparing food (e.g. boil the water before use). It turns out the doctors the rabbis consulted with were into what we now call “junk science”.
The Library of Congress came up with the quarantine period for books based on experiments for how long Covid19 remains alive on books. It appears most public libraries are adopting similar procedures. For libraries where you have to order the books and then pick them up, this removes any chance of getting Covid19 from a library book.
The original posting made an argument for ebooks (though there is no way to read them on Shabbos) and for purchasing books. If you are a fanatic germ-phobe, you probably want to avoid library copies of children’s books (in particular). In dealing with Covid19, libraries discovered that if you quarantine a book for several days most common viruses die, though some microorganisms can probably survive almost anything.
When we find OTD kids becoming frum again so they can give up getting good jobs open only to those who work on Shabbos, and instead want to get rich by working in Torah institutions.
China is an enemy. Their aggressive policies against American friends is unacceptable. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Even President Biden is unlikely to pursue friendly relations with China, those the Democrats plan to defund most of the military which will greatly help China.
Bolton sees Trump as his enemy, and by that logic he gives up his neo-con views and supports China.
In 2000 years when English is a dead language, scholars will envy how you got to observe English back when it was a living and constantly changing language.
If you are trying to find a consistent approach to the two parties, over time, you could argue that the Democrats were and are into identity politics (even if before the 1960s they largely rejected Blacks in order to pander to southern white who were still grumpy about the Civil War), but that the Democrats have always been for pandering to whomever they define as “the people”, going back to Jefferson and Jackson. “Jim Crow” was a Democratic invention (good pandering to southerners), though the laws against Jewish and Asian immigrants had bi-partisan support. The “woke” Democrats are still supporting “pandering” to those whom they feel are worthy (with a strong caveat, that means discriminating against those they don’t approve us).
The Republicans (and the Whigs and the Federalists) were always into support “good government” and “business”, appealing to like-minded voters on non-ethnic grounds, and rejecting identity politics.
Avi K – I don’t recall the police beating up Epstein when he was taken into custody. He apparently was arrested the “correct way”, with an arrest warrant, after being indicted. He was not in police custody when he died under mysterious circumstances (he was in jail, run by correction officers, not cops). Getting the police to treat all people they arrest just like Epstein, is the goal. Prison reform is a separate issue.
The statistics show race isn’t a big issue (black cops are just as likely to kill blacks as white cops are). The issue is police abuse of people they are arresting, regardless of race (and perhaps not regardless of class – rich people tend to get much better treated when getting arrested). There is no excuse for police to being injuring unarmed persons, even if they deserve it.
When a cop busts someone, for, as an example, passing out “under the influence” in an illegally parked car, they have to treat the guy the same way they would treat their “let’s not talk about him” uncle who sometimes gets drunk in the wrong time and place. When arresting an unarmed suspect, perhaps one freaking out at being arrested, he should treat him the way he would treat his own kid if some childish prank ended up with someone calling 911.
We also should remember that if Ha-Shem decides you are going to be rich, you will end up being rich whether you like it or not. You may choose to be a poor kollel student and end up working in hinuch, but if Ha-Shem wants you to be rich, Ha-Shem will find a way. And if you decide you want to rich and become world renown for giving tsadakkah, and Ha-SHem decides you should be living off tsadakkah, guess what.
RE: What makes someone yeshivish and not mainstream charedi??
1. Not being a Hasid
2. Not being a Sefardi (non-Ashkenazi) baal ha-bayis (but can you be both Sefardi and yeshivish, and in that case should we say there are two flavors of “yeshivish”, Ashkenazi and Sefardi.
3. Especially in greater New York City, even goyim mix in Yiddish with their English. Many people wear loafers for many reasons (not wanting to tie shoes on Shabbos, arthritis that makes it hard to tie shoes, etc.), How one wears a yarmulke is a function of head shape (though choice of yarmulke is a fashion statement with socio-political overtones).
All yeshivish are chareidi (unless one argues the fanatical religious zionist yeshiva students are also yeshivish, which is not how the term is used in Yiddish and English).
Not all chareidim are yeshivish (there are hasidim and sefardim, who are not yeshivish but are charedi).
The broad term is : chareidi
The narrower term is; yeshivishThe government gives lots of people lots of benefits. Suggesting they should exclude kollel families from entitlements to which everyone is entitled would be very unconstitutional. American law is very big in treating everyone equally.
As to the question about whether the government should aid persons who are poor, regardless of reason, that goes back. Originally the policy was very restricted. One couldn’t get “welfare” unless you had sold all your possessions, and moved to the “poor house”. It was felt that giving money to poor people would make them lazy and corrupt their souls. For the most part, “welfare” was considered the function of private (usually religious) groups.
As America became “diverse” (this goes back 250 years, originally America was dominated by WASPs), the newcomers tended to be Jews and Catholics whose traditions supported charity, and overtime the government got into “welfare” business and at this point, add to the poor is considered by most Americans to be a proper government function, so we have programs such as welfare, food stamps, WIC, social security, medicare, CHIP, tuition waivers at universities, legal aid, Obamacare, etc. This isn’t really controversial anymore, and no one wants to go back to the old system which saw support the poor as being a bad thing. This has proven very good for frum Jews since we have large families and many people who put Torah and Mitsvos ahead of earning a parnassah, and consequently benefit from government hand-outs.
And yes, one can argue they got much of the idea from Yidden (directly or indirectly). Our communities always tried to be a welfare state (which was very hard for financial and economic reasons).
Had they acknowledged that their model of the disease was wrong, they would have suggested that those at the highest risk (the elderly in particular) needed isolation and masks, and that was all that was needed. The model they relied on assumed that those diagnosed as “positive” was what normally happen if you were infected with Covid19, and half of those became seriously ill and 5% might die. Projected to the whole population, it would make Covid19 similar to smallpox or perhaps even “Black death”.
It turned out, and the evidence was there all along, that those identified from testing with only 5% of the actual cases, and 95% of the “victims” don’t get ill enough to worry about. This make Covid19 into a slightly more dangerous version of the “flu” that makes it rounds every winter, but hardly into something threatening the social or economic order. The junk science led to politicians doing horrific damage, including closing schools, wiping out people’s savings, destroying their jobs and in many countries causing mass starvation.
Trump was right when he though this wasn’t a serious problem. Covid19 isn’t much of a disease, but it triggered a massive and destructive panic. Covid19 won’t make it into the medical history book, but into the psychological history books as an example of what dumb people do when they panic.
“Lowly mortal” — do you mean a worm, they are mortal and quite low
The mortals I hang out with are all created in the image of Ha-Shem, capable of things that melachim (“angels” as the goyim say) can only dream of, and are only mortal within the context of this world (which we know is a merely corridor to the real world (“this world” being similar to the “fake” world of the “Matrix” but with a much better real world).
The answer is that the US has a very fixed two party system, with free elections within each party to determine the nominee. Trump defeated the more traditional conservatives in the primary election in 2016. No elected president has been seriously challenged for renomination by his party, so the next opportunity for a traditional conservative is in 2024. In all fairness, it seems the conservative platform of small government and a muscular foreign policy seems somewhat out of favor at the moment.
In the election persons who dislike Trump, or Biden, have few choices as the American system makes it almost impossible for a “third party” to win (this happened only once, in 1860 when both parties fragmented, and the election triggered a civil war). Those unhappy with the presidential candidates can elect congressional candidate more to their choosing, and unlike most democracies, the American legislature is totally independent of, and in many ways more powerful, than the executive, and has a long tradition of annoying the elected chief executive.
Hats are a matter of style, not halacha. The halacha is to dress nicely for Shabbos. What defines Shabbos-dik is dependent on place and time, and is always relative. BTW, that is always true about clothing.
A dark conventional suit, with a fedora, will mark you as someone who wants to be seen as a scholar or even a fanatic if you wear it in a shul where everyone else has no jacket, wears a white shirt without a tie, and a kippah srugah. The very same outfit worn to a shul where the norm is a “long” suit (beckishe, kapote, etc.), and where formal hats (including homburgs, steimels, etc.) are the norm, will indicate that you want to be seen a “modern” person familiar with the ways of the outside world.
Under American law, the only time being pro-Nazi was illegal was when the United States was at war with Nazi Germany. Supporting the idea that the South should be given independence was never illegal even during the Civil War (persons arrested for supporting the South were not charged with a crime or prosecuted, though they were arrested under the suspension of habeas corpus, which was subsequently found to have been illegal).
One should also note that reconciliation with the defeated rebels was a key aspect of American policy, going back to Lincoln in 1865. In other countries the animosity over civil wars often lasted centuries (e.g. it was still controversial in 20th century Britain whether they could honor Oliver Cromwell, who was the “Jefferson Davis” of the British civil war). One should note (WOKE propaganda to the contrary) the even though the Germans in World War II presented strong racial arguments to American southerners including advocating a re-enslavement of Black Americans, they found no takers – the policy of reconciliation that is denounced may be a major reason why there was southern “third column” supporting the Nazis.
Police frequently beat up people. Even when their our four healthy, fairly young, cops, and one unarmed middle-aged person (who probably wasn’t going to be charged – passing one, and only one, fake $20 suggests he didn’t anything illegal and was probably annoyed to find our that the bill in his wallet was possibly fake). Police routinely beat up people of all races. This is illegal.
It shouldn’t be noted that police generally don’t beat up rich people. Police tend to be very polite to well dressed, well educated and apparently affluent people. It has to do with class. It is surprising that the self-proclaimed socialists haven’t caught on to this, since class distinctions are a core part of Marxist sociology.
Trump would be clever to explain he fully understands “Black lives matter” but that the lives of his supporters also matter and “Deplorables’ lives matter”, and that the solution is not to say that only Black lives matters but that the police should respect persons regardless of who or what they are. Of he said that, he would be a Libertarian (Rand Paul would be proud, the big government Republicans would be shocked).
Just like systematic/institutional anti-semitism is a myth. Actually if you live in Boro Park, work in Boro Park and have never left Boro Park, you might believe there is no discrimination against anyone in America (in Boro Park there is no discrimination against frum Yidden, and there aren’t enough goyim to discriminate against). You never applied for a job in which having beard and pe’os might hurt chances of getting hired. You never had to consider entering a field in which you were the only frum person. You never left out neighborhood. That method of avoid anti-semitism is similar to the reason many if not most Blacks in American prefer to live in Black neighborhoods and go to predominantly Black colleges.
You mean you never wondered if an African American professional you meet is truely qualified, or got the job only via affirmative action? You mean you never got nervous seeing a group of young, poor dressed, African American males walking towards you on a dark, uncrowded street? Did you ever feel uncomfortable traveling or shopping in an predominantly African American neighborhood?
Were the Nazis hypocrites for hating Jews? Are those who wish to be tyrants hypocrites for hating those whom they wish to enslave? Is a wolf a hypocrite for wanting to eat the sheep?
He could just establish that Israeli law applies to the existing settlements as if they were annexed. He might make it more secure by stating that the national government (not the settlement) would be fully liable if a future peace treaty requires paying the Palestinians for the lands, or relocating the settlement (insure the settlements against an unfavorable future peace treaty).
Israel has to remember that if the Republicans ever lose a national election in the United States, they will be, as the saying up, rowing up creek without a paddle.
Would we object to a statute of a Nazi who didn’t support the holocaust (especially if he ended up being executed by the Nazi government)? What if he was merely not involved with the holocaust.
Do we object to statutes in honor of former American enemies with whom we now wish to be friends (e.g. Sitting Bull, Nat Turner)?
An argument can be made the rebellion of the American South in 1861-1865 was not initially about slavery but about the objections of the southerners to a modern, industrial society. Only some of the states that still had slavery (most states having abolished slavery in the aftermath of the Revolution) joined the rebellion, and most southerners were not slaveowners. Before the Civil War most Americans had never seen a Black person, and no one demanded that the south give up slavery in 1861, and the pro-union slave states were exempted from the emancipation proclamation. By the end of the war the Union was anti-slavery, and by 1865 most non-southern Americans felt they had been abolitionists all along, just like most Americans and Brits couldn’t care less about anti-Semitism in 1939, but by 1945 felt they had opposed anti-Semitism all along. In both cases, discovering the barbarity of the enemy (of slavery, and of the holocaust), combined with the struggles of war, changed minds
At least they aren’t proposing funding the Palestinians or Al Queda, yet. Or more likely, banning Americans from donating money to Israel, and banning American companies from selling to Israel (that will come).
However there is no requirement, at least under Federal law, to fund private schools. Furthermore, most non-sectarian private schools are “prep” schools which by definition are not in need of public funds. It is surprising that the four Democrat judges all supported the Blaine amendment, considering that in the past it was the Democrats supporting ethnic and religious minorities, and Republicans supporting the Blaine amendment. The change in the Democratic position is bad for yeshivos, since in states with a Democratic majority, the legislature is unlikely for fund any non-public schools, which is still their option. If the refuse to fund the private schools for rich kids, they can also refuse to fund the religious schools serving poor kids.
YWN is an aggregator even though it has occasional original reports. Last spring the powers that be in the scientific world assumed that anyone who came down with Covid19 would get sick enough need to contact a doctor or go to a hospital, similar to the situation for other infamous epidemics, such as smallpox. influenza, typhus, bubonic, etc. They thus decided that most people who were infected would be come seriously ill, and 5% will die. That would mean around 15 to 20 millions deaths in the US alone. Most of the government (except for Trump), and most of the Rabbanim thought this was true and acted accordingly.
It turns out the experts were WRONG. Now that they can test for antibodies, it turns out that 90% of the people who “catch” COVID19 do not get sick enough to care about it. That the NORMAL for Covid19 is a cold symptom or less. In the EXCEPTIONAL cases, it causes serious illness, and perhaps 1 in 300 patients die of it (to but it in context, in the United States 1 in about 120 people die annually), It also turned out that the typical Covid19 patient for whom the disease is life threatening is someone already in per health. Based on the accurate numbers, confirmed in several countries, COVID19 was NEVER an “existential” threat to society, there never was a need for a massive shutdown, there was never a need to close the economy, there was never a need to give up davening and learning, and the experts were wrong. Note that realizing the truth, means concluding the most politicians, and many leading rabbanim, were misled by errors in the presenting the facts. While criticizing politicians and science experts if fair game, criticizing the leaders of our own community is halachically a problem. So YWN aggregates, and doesn’t try to get involved.
AviK — davening is not a business. Under Common Law (i.e.the law as it was before the Constitution), you could always reserve land for agricultural purposes. But you couldn’t ban people from praying in their house. That is why there were minyanim (and Catholic services) at a time when the only house of worship were those of the established church. If a right exists at common law, it can only be repealed by a specific statute (not by implication). So a traditional shtiebel (davening in someone’s home, no request for a tax write-off, or a parking lot, etc.) is covered.
Raising livestock was always regulated in cities While most people needed horses and cows, other livestock were a problem and were required to live on farms.
It’s not clear that zoning laws could ban a shtiebel. After all, back when it was illegal to build a synagogue in the United States (in some states until the Jacksonian era) people could still have a private minyan in their house (note: the same rule also applied to Roman Catholics when their churches were banned). The common law rule that everyman’s home is his castle at least covers what you do in your house. And this is without dealing with the discrimination issues addressed in federal and state constitutions and statutes.
A liability of a democracy (small “d”) is that the voters sometimes make bad choices. Note that in World War II, in which the losers entered into what turned out to be a hopeless suicidal war, the three Axis powers were all led by democratically elected leaders (and one continued to have free elections even during the war). The fact the most of New York is still standing indicates that De Blaso would be worse.
WolfishMusings: There is always the danger of a nuclear weapon being used (again). There is also a danger of an epidemic that will destroy civilization. There is also the danger of an asteroid hitting Earth or the Sun going Nova. There is also the danger of Earth being visited by hungry aliens who think we are non-sentient but with a good taste.
Science Fiction is an interesting genre, but you should realize that it is fiction. If you are really worried about the end of the world, stop posting on YWN and concentrate on spending your minutes on Torah and Mitsvos.
It is possible that Covid19 will seriously weaken the attraction of large cities. First, the biggest risk factor for Covid19, other than being old, is urban living. Second, the “lockdowns” demonstrate the advantages of teleworking and distance education, so we can expect more resources to be invested in industries that telework (and for sponsoring companies to move to states that do not tax non-resident teleworkers) which will seriously hurt big cities, and especially New York City, whose economy is based on industries that can easily go entirely online, thereby avoiding New York’s high taxes and high rents.
1. An EMP would be an act of war. It would have no impact on nuclear weapons on submarines which would retaliate. Given that China has a dense population (high concentration, unlike the US which is spread out), China would lose. It also should be noted that throughout its history, China has never engaged in suicidal behavior. Indeed, China has never engaged in a war except against/in countries bordering on China.
2.It is unlikely a country would launch an EMP strike without a complete follow-up to at least strike at the other side’s nuclear weapons. The resulting radiation would minimize the danger of starvation.
Next Purim, if a totally drunk Yid is making a fool of himself, resists a lawful arrest and grabs a taser (i.e. non-lethal weapon useless over distance) and then runs away – is it okay for the cop to shoot him in the back as he is running away.
Clearly not pre-meditated murder or felony murder, but probably manslaughter (and failing to follow orders, which is grounds for dismissal from the police force).
Actually the United States has an “oral law” system. It is very flexible. The ‘Common law”, like Halakah evolves by scholars and judges addressing situations as they change. The Romans had a written system reliant on the boss making rules whenever he felt like. If you tried to reinact living as we did 2000 years ago you would realize how are flexible oral system, like the American common law system, works in our benefit.
If you followed the original text of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as an example, gun ownership would be dependent on willingness to serve in the militia and report regularly for training (and to fight war, and more often, suppress riots). The clear understanding when the Constitution was adopted was that non-Christians would have minimal rights under state law unless the state wanted them to (by the Jacksonian era, they all had). None of the civil rights that enable American Jews to be comfortably middle class would exist if the Constitution was interpreted as it was in 1789 (of the14th amendment at the time it was adopted).
Americans (and many in the world elsewhere) have been feeling that the “end is near” since at least the 1960s. You see it in literature, pop culture, etc. Messianic movements are strong in all religions, The cure to the feeling how awful it is, is to realize how good it is. How people today are better fed (the leading food issue is obesity, it used to be starvation), healthier (even with Covid19, the death rate is lower now than in the mid-20th century – back then no one would have suggested lockdowns to deal with Covid19), and more secure (there hasn’t been a world war in over 75 years – the last city to be destroyed in any sort of warfare was Hiroshima, or at worse some (then) small cities in Korea ). Ignorance of the past leads to not realizing how well off we are.
Just wait untijl the Democrats sweep the next election. To see whose next to get cancelled, just look in a mirror.