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School Violence and China
Two unrelated events collided recently: President Trump went to China, and I learned that the boy who bullied me in high school died. He wasn’t Chinese. But the two events connected in my mind in an unexpected way.
The media, bullies themselves, of course found the China trip largely a disaster. Trump generated predictable coverage, panic over diplomatic protocol, endless parsing of symbolism, and stories about EVs and AI. As they do at home reporting on every Trump gaffe, act of pantomime-like resistance, and negative turn in the Iran War, the purpose is to humiliate tRump and mock the Orange Man.
The other media thing that emerged, especially when nothing really significant came from the Trump-Xi meetings, is some American journalists rediscovered the soft piece, a short video about how strange stuff is in China, or how they venerate their elders, or maybe about a family where the Yoda-like grandpa fought with Mao while his young granddaughter wears a miniskirt. There is also the serious “think” piece, where a journo discovers Chinese math-centric schools have lessons to teach America. But he’ll likely miss the point: America’s deeper school problem is not simply academics.
The sad thing is that there is too much truth to the claim that American education is terrible, and that that contributes to the failures of our society in so many ways. The think piece on Chinese education will however not include anything on bullying or violence in their schools, our pervasive problem. The journo’s Chinese government translator will not tell him about the bullying in local schools. China has its own school problems, including conformity, academic pressure, social exclusion, but American schools often tolerate something more openly physical. In China, social exclusion can be severe, particularly in a world where fitting into peer groups is highly valued. Students may be ostracized for appearing different or violating expectations. In some cases, classmates create online groups on WeChat to spread rumors. Success on exams by itself can determine admission to top universities. This pressure creates stress, anxiety, and competition. Students who perform poorly may become targets of ridicule, while high achievers may be bullied for appearing overly ambitious or socially awkward. Imagine an American kid bullied over a high SAT score.
Chinese schools may be harsh and conformist. American schools often normalize violence. Both systems fail students in different ways. We share humiliation. But the key difference between Chinese high schools and my old one is violence, straight up physical brutality in cases, that trains American kids to be violent themselves, condone violence, quietly endure it, and leaves long-term social scars. My suburban Ohio high school was a violent place, even as it failed to compete statistically with the assault rates in nearby urban schools. My bully, Jimmy, was on the varsity football team when I was barely holding it together on the junior varsity crew. I had stopped growing a year before, and my interest in being one of the smaller kids on the squad was lessening all the time. Jimmy singled me out.
In a coaching era where drinking water at practice was considered a sign of weakness, Jimmy would take away my lunchbreak thermos, meaning nothing to drink halfway through the two-a-day football practices during those 95-degree humid Ohio afternoons. The grit from the high school track in my mouth was awful without a splash of water to wash it down. Jimmy would chug my thermos while I stood there watching. He was bigger than me and I knew nothing about fighting, so I never thought to fight back. He’d often pretend to hold the thermos out to me so I could have a sip then pull it back. He’d offer it to another varsity player, and usually finish the daily show by dumping whatever he did not drink onto the ground. If I ever got anything to drink, it would be room-temperature water snuck from the groundskeeper’s upright spigot. These behaviors exist on a spectrum ranging from cruelty to severe physical violence. They created a ritualized environment in which I felt unsafe in places that are supposed to foster learning and development.
Jimmy would also take a few swings at me, after school, before practice, whenever. But those just hurt. In retrospect the water thing humiliated in a way long after my split lip healed. When I learned recently Jimmy died at a fairly young age while Trump was in China, I did not feel that was a bad thing.
I was not the only person bullied in my high school. Most assaults, like mine, went unreported because of fear of retaliation, masculine embarrassment, or disbelief from adults. Bullying was endemic and what made it worse is how it was allowed by the people who could have helped us. My father brushed it all off over the newspaper as “boys will be boys” and my mother responded by buying me a bigger thermos in hopes a few drops would be left for me post-Jimmy. We had no school resource officers to intervene. The football coaches were with us every minute of every practice, like Marine Corps drill sergeants, except for a brief period during lunch break every damn day when not a single adult was to be found. That’s when the bullying took place. The regular teachers who elsewhere patrolled the school restrooms for under age cigarette smokers somehow never paid any attention to the wood shop corridor. And of course none of the students there never saw nothin’.
Luckily this was before mass shootings became routine. But many of us graduated believing the world was fundamentally unsafe, that authority figures would look away, institutions would fail, and humiliation was simply part of life. That lesson may have had more lasting impact than anything we learned in class.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1Your personal history is classic for followers of authoritarian cults.
05/26/26 4:46 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
2Peter shouldn’t get alarmed about the failed state of our public education system. This isn’t something new. Yeah, high schoolers are vaping out on their social media drug, but Amerika has always had a population of functional morons. (H.L.) In a 2024 census it was revealed 77,000,000 of them voted for the biggest bully moron who ever made it to the White House.
05/26/26 6:22 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3Demented the Bully sitting the Sofa King down
Since Demented has knifed VD Dance in the back when he gave his his support to little Marco for Prezidunce candidate in 2028, the paranoid fat Clown rightfully thinks Sofa King VD Dance will knife him in the back and refuse to pardon him on the last day he is in office. Now Demented has to get rid of VD like an STD. He would naturally add VP to little Marco’s resume.
VD is dead man walking, so he better act fast. Demented can’t fire him, but he could send VD on a dangerous mission to deal with the Iranians. Knowing the Secret Service inability to protect Demented, VD would likely be taken hostage by the Iranians as a human shield. But they would be mistaken, Demented would not care, and VD ain’t human.
05/27/26 7:16 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4When Peter passes the torch for WMW, the name will be changed to reflect reality: MAGA NEVER MEANT WELL. Each article will recognize the depravity of the orange clown and his cult.
Consider this recent item: Karen Lesperance, Legally Stupid
DOJ lawyer Karen Lesperance argued before the court at the pretrial hearing that Maureen Comey’s firing was valid “even if there were political motivations.”
But then Politico reports “U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman pressed Lesperance on whether there are any limits to the president’s Article II powers. Could the president, for example, decide to fire people in order to achieve an ‘all-white executive branch? Or all-Black?’ he asked.”
Lesperance argued before the court at the pretrial hearing that Comey’s firing was valid “even if there were political motivations.”
But then Politico reports “U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman pressed Lesperance on whether there are any limits to the president’s Article II powers. Could the president, for example, decide to fire people in order to achieve an ‘all-white executive branch? Or all-Black?’ he asked.”
Lesperance stammered in response,” reports Politico, eventually saying, “I can’t answer on behalf of the government.”
Judge Furman replied: “You’re here representing the government.”
The Comey case highlights the broader constitutional crisis surrounding Trump’s use of Article II powers to purge federal employees.
Gonna try to get a writing gig on AMCON. Don’t think it will go over well with their 3.000 subscribers though.
05/29/26 4:05 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5MAGA NEVER MEANT WELL
The diseased brain of the orange clown enjoys watching people get killed. He probably had a hard on watching those 160 little Iranian girls get bombed more than watching Epstein rape those little girls.
The sick fuck claims that he can lawfully order the military to summarily kill people accused of smuggling drugs has come under widespread criticism. Experts in laws governing the lethal use of force have denounced the strikes as illegal because the U.S. military is not allowed to intentionally target civilians who pose no threat of imminent violence even if they are committing a crime.
The orange clown and. MAGA get off killing people. The killing is the point. THEY know this has no impact on the drug trade. The drug cartels see these people as entirely expendable. They are nothing but poor, small time folks just trying to get by. So they can be killed with impunity so that Pete and Don can get a thrill up the leg watching the boats go boom.
This is state sponsored terrorism. MAGA NEVER MEANT WELL.
05/29/26 4:24 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6Cuba, History Repeating?
The orange clown never read a history book or he would know Threatening Cuba didnt end well. He should be aware the CIA killed JFK after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Little Marco wants to take Cuba at the point of a gun. If Demented falls into another neocon fiasco, the CIA may put the little piggy down for good.
05/29/26 6:17 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7The Reptilian Brain of Donnie Dementia
After Donnie Dementia got his ass smacked for the Kennedy Center naming snafu, it was not surprising he attacked with 20 tweets in an hour. Demented’s reptilian brain has little thinking ability other than attacking out. His thinking brain rotted out with diet sodas and cheeseburgers.
Key Characteristics of Demented’s “Reptilian” AppealSimplicity and Repetition: utilizes highly simplified language, short sentences, and repetitive slogans that are easy for a threatened or reactive mind to process instantly.Us vs. Them Mentality: His rhetoric often sharply divides the world into allies and enemies. This triggers tribal instincts and the “fight or flight” response, creating a strong sense of in-group solidarity and out-group hostility.Emphasis on Fear and Security: He frequently focuses on threats—whether physical, economic, or cultural—which directly stimulates the survival-oriented reptilian brain.
Unfortunately for Demented, his lizard brain followers understand simple things too, like getting hosed at the gas station because of his stupid war, paying more for less groceries, taxpayers screwed to pay for his grifts.
The picture of his MAGGOTS getting poorer by the day will stick in their simple minds when they vote. They will remember the picture of Demented telling the truth for once he doesn’t care about them.
05/30/26 4:08 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8You didn’t know anything about fighting? Were you homeschooled before you went to high school? You didn’t learn the lesson about dealing with a bully: You first punch the prick in the face. Sure he will fight back but that was gonna happen anyway. Not doing anything will scar you for life. God forbid, you could have ended up like closeted Ohio native fat boy VD Dance with his eyeliner and screwing his sofa.
05/30/26 11:23 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
9Iran punched the Bully Orange Clown in his fat gut
Iran knew the Orange Clown would BACK away when it punched back. The fat bully picked on defenseless Venezuela and fishermen or smugglers. But picking on Iran, a country used to fights in its neighborhood, was a big mistake. Now the pathetic bully is afraid the whole world knows he is a weak LOSER. He has been humiliated and MAGA don’t like a weak authoritarian.
Now the Mean old courts are making him look dumb too. His musical circus doesn’t have the bread to get good performers. Now that the momentum begins, there is no end to his downfall.
The bully orange clown is just a sad clown.
05/30/26 11:38 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
10Leave it to Peter
Great idea for a new CBS show to replace Colbert: Leave it to Peter
Each night Peter will take on the tough task of making sense out of Demented’s nonsense. God knows the mediocre media ain’t doing a good job. Peter will have MAGA special guests like HeadUpHisAss drunk like a skunk to say THE great things are happening in Demented’s illegal Iran War. Gay Bessent will explain how credit card debt is really a sign of a healthy economy. Too bad Kristy Noem got dumped or she could have appeared with her busty husband to compare TITS on a NEW game show “MAGA, whose tits are BIGGER?” Peter will interview an Epstein victim each night and name the rich pervs that Demented wants us to forget.
Peter won’t need any writers, as this shit writes itself.
05/31/26 10:14 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
11Repugs getting the Carter Treatment
The Repugs backchanneled Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until the day after Jimmy Carter left office. Now the Dems are using the same playbook to fuck the Repugs in the midterms.
Demented is in denial when he told a cabinet meeting that “I don’t care about the midterms,” rejecting the idea that Iranian leaders could use his electoral vulnerabilities to out-wait him at the negotiating table. But whatever role the midterm elections play in Trump’s Iran thinking, Iran is likely to play an outsized role in November.
Trump’s claim that he is operating above domestic politics when deciding his Iran policy was not new. In recent weeks, he has repeatedly dismissed claims that he is operating on a political clock and insisted that “time is on our side.” Earlier this month he told reporters that when it comes to Iran, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”
Okay, but Iran ain’t replying to Demented’s peace plans. It will wait until the Dems take the House and burn the Repugs. They understand American voters better than Demented.
06/1/26 10:13 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
12Back to the Future in Iran
Donnie Dementia is in the role of George McFly (hello, McFly). Nearly a decade later, with oil prices sky-high, it is beyond parody that Dementia is back to where this all began, except this time with a massive war costing every American in their wallets. Dementia aka McFly is getting his brain beat in by the horrible Biff Iranians.
AMCON has seen this movie before. American Conservative contributor Anik Joshi notes that “the deal will have the same core ingredients as the one negotiated by President Barack Obama and signed in 2015 that the U.S. later left — some kind of financial/sanctions relief in exchange for verification of promises not to pursue a weapons program.” These two aspects are vital, but ignore many other considerations that are essential to the war, like the activities of regional proxies. But to bring these other elements into the debate risks sidelining the core nuclear issue, which could tank efforts for a deal altogether. Billions for nothing. The
Back in the past, (Marty observes his dad’s incompetence)
Marty McFly: Jesus, George, it was a wonder I was even born.
06/1/26 11:37 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
13It must be really embarrassing for Peter when Crazy Marge makes more sense than anything he writes:
America voted in 2024 to end foreign wars, not to go to war with Iran and to fund genocidal wars. Americans aren’t billionaires who can afford to sit back and relax paying over $4.50 for gas and nearly $6 for diesel. I’m not sorry for ‘chirping’ because it’s my 1st amendment right, I don’t belong to a cult where I owe blind faith and obedience, and I want America First and I thought that’s what we promised the American people. If Iran’s military is obliterated and if they’re [SIC] nuclear program is completely wiped out like President Trump has boldly claimed, then America should just pull out of the war and the Strait will reopen and we can call it a victory. Be done with this pointless nonsense before America’s 250 and put America FIRST and ONLY,” former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), an ally of Trump now turned critic, wrote on X.
06/1/26 12:24 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
14The 70% Final Solution to MAGA
Donnie Dementia is about to enter territory no Prezidunce has been before- 70% DISAPPROVAL BY AMERICAN VOTERS. Not content to shout antisemitic abuse at Nuttyyahoo, who successfully crushed the Iran ceasefire, Demented has gone off the rails proudly claiming he doesn’t really care about Americans or the midterms. This ensures gas prices and grocery prices will be a big problem for MAGA chickenhawks in November.
There is no way back for MAGA when the 70% line is crossed. Most of the MAGGOTS were followers of the crowd. When the crowd deserts Demented, they will follow and forget they ever supported the fat clown.
06/2/26 8:09 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
158647, I ain’t afraid of no seashells
Donnie Dementia was bullied in his formative years. This draft dodger coward can trace back his unusual fears to the mean things the kids in his neighborhood said about him. It is not surprising the snowflake is in fear because someone placed seashells on the beach in the form of 8647. In the instant case he has filed “Comey Pussy That’s Us” it looks like the judge isn’t seeing the threat.
How can MAGA follow such a weak ass who is afraid of his own shadow? The Iranians certainly see the coward for what he is.
06/2/26 8:51 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
16Time for grandpa to go to the retirement home
You’re f—ing crazy,” Demented allegedly said in the call, according to a U.S. official who spoke with Axios, summarizing their conversation. “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
Demented’s cognitive decline is accelerating. His Rage is getting worse.
06/2/26 11:17 AM | Comment Link