Difference between Democrats and Republicans...

... from the perspective of the 2020 elections:

planet earth = terminally ill cancer patient suffering great pain

treatment options from Republicans/Democrats:
Republicans: assisted suicide
establishment Democrats (party organization): non-prescription analgesics and smiles
progressive Democrats: try to push patient into remission... that will buy time to try to find a cure

The Christian Church may have achieved what Chinese Communism failed

There's a story posted on NPR about the effect of the Christian Church on Western culture, in particular, the de-emphasis of [communal] extended-family structures towards more individualistic structures called: Western Individualism May Have Roots In The Medieval Church's Obsession With Incest.

This reminds me of a story of a friend, an Chinese immigrant. When the Communists were recruiting to their cause in China (they had many of the peasant class but needed the support of the middle class), they would have open air gatherings where the communist 'missionary' would exhort their audience to reject their families and in its stead, put their faith/trust in the government. The medieval church may not have overtly stated their intent to become the center of social and cultural life but that was likely their intent... and the consequence maybe some of the defining features of Western Culture.

Legal equivalents

campaign spending : free speech : corporate personhood (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby) :: 
free speech advocacy of gun ownership : NRA : terrorist organization

What does it take to be a Trump supporter?

DJT is an objectively horrible person and an objectively horrible POTUS. He's a misogynist, racist... autocrat. His failings are so obvious that his supporters must completely lack analytical thinking and all judgement to vote for him.

So I'm wondering how dependent DJT supporters are on the benefits of civilized society? Would DJT supporters be able to grow & raise their own food, educate their children, doctor their ills, organize themselves to produce everything they need for a functioning society?

Modern republicans and libertarians forget that society and culture is in itself 'socialism'. Economic 'socialism' is about shared economic ownership but in the larger context, socialism is about some shared aspect; for example, insurance is socialism in the sense of shared risk. Culture is shared experience and context. The spread and integration of new technology is the socializing of innovation. In other words, innovators/inventors benefit the society at large. The most telling examples are modern medical technologies that saves lives.

Would DJT's supporters exist without socialized innovations? Does the socialism of cultural norms protect them from the outcomes of their poor judgement? Without seat belt laws, drunk driving limits, built in safety features, vaccination rules, etc., what proportion of DTJ's supporters would Darwin Award themselves out of existence?

I'm not a Democrat but the cruelty of Trump Republicans is goes beyond pale.

Monoculture of nation-states

Barack Obama held a town hall in Berlin recently. [As an aside, his intelligence and oration are such a refreshing contrast to POTUS DJT.] Part of his answer to a question was (~20:10):

[in a democracy]... you never get 100% of what you want...

So far as it goes, this is true. But there also seems to be the presumption that what the consensus agrees to is the 'right' or 'best' answer... what if it's not? The political consensus on nuclear weapons had the U.S. build and stockpile thousands of nuclear warheads, enough to push the entire planet into nuclear winter several times over. And the slow pace of political solutions to climate change would see the likely decimation of the human population due to wars, famines and disease brought about by climate disruption before a 'political' solution is considered.

This reminds me much of the dangers of agricultural monoculturing, when corporate commercial farming grows only the most productive/mechanization friendly strain of any single crop and through their neglect, lose the genetic diversity of less 'useful' strains. Small farms will grow other strains for other reasons (flavor, growth conditions, resistance, etc.). Monoculturing only preserves the information of one strain while the vast information in other strains are lost. Nation-states are similar in that the ideas and memes of the powerful become dominant and other ideas are muted to the point of loss. The lack of diversity in ideas and approaches also means little to no opportunity to test social solutions. Smaller units of governance means more units of governance which increases diversity and diversity/flexibility of thinking is the source of innovation. Small units of governance are flexible in contrast to the rigidity of large nation-states.

Do robots serve us or do we serve the robots?

Amy Goodman interviewed Shoshana Zuboff who wrote: “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power”. Her premise is that the frontier of capitalistic innovation is capitalizing prediction of individual (and likely) group behavior. These themes have explored in science fiction and coming to fruition in reality. We need to decide if we serve the interests of our (collective human) creations or do the controllers of these creations control our destinies?

Part 2 of this interview emphasizes the role of information control/secrecy in these developments... a theme I've been writing about for years.

Tomi Lahren says stupid things

Tomi Lahren says stupid things, predictably.


My comment:

She spreads propaganda and conspiracy theories like infectious diseases. The NY public health health authorities quarantined Typhoid Mary for spreading typhoid. White wing media, Tomi Lahren included, are a similar threat to the public health of the nation and planet.

Is it inevitable?

I just watched a segment on TRNN about the resurgence of right-wing fascism on Poland. The parallels to the rise of fascism during the period of the second world war are self evident and I was reminded of the repeating patterns of Mandelbrot fractals. My very simple understanding of Mandelbrot sets is that they are a mathematical model of a chaotic set (by definition, chaos cannot be predicted so it probably cannot be defined by an equation). An interesting property of these fractals is that they have very similar although not identical features and patterns at any and all levels of magnification... suggesting an inevitability cyclical pattern of events.

So I wonder... Based on patterns of the past, we are on a path to partly repeat the events of WWII Europe? How much momentum do these trends have? Having to repeat even a small measure of the tragedies of the past would immeasurably sad.

The Grifter

Bob Woodward was on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and said this:

Great missile system called THAAD. It’s the best missile interceptor in the world. We put it in S. Korea so we can shoot down N. Korean missiles… it’s a terrific missile system. So Trump asks, “Well how much does it cost?” “It’s a billion dollars.” … and they show him the lease…. “It’s great we have a 99 year lease.” And Trump says, “Who’s paying for it?” They said the United States. He says, “Take it out! Put it in Portland.”

It's pretty illustrative of Trump. For all his claims to be a 'businessman,' he doesn't understand the relationship between investment and return-on-investment. DJT is all grift.

He's apply the financial model that caused the Flint water crisis on a national level with the leading nuclear superpower. 

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

When lies are/aren't lies?

Every schoolchild has heard the thought experiment: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it,does it make a sound?

I was thinking about this with regards to 'POTUS' DJT's incessant lying. With any lie, there are two participants - the liar and the recipient. Does the intent of the liar or perception of the recipient change the value or intent of the lie? For the U.S., this is not merely a thought experiment. The answer will have broad and long lasting implications for the future of the country, especially in regards to Constitutional rights, freedom of press/speech and transparency.

If a lie is told by someone without the intent of lying, is it a lie? [American press tends to say no. The intent of the liar is more relevant than correcting the lie for the sake of viewers.]

If every pronouncement is presumed to be a lie, is it a lie? [In some respects, this is fiction... But we are currently living under a president who seemingly cannot utter a truthful statement.]

A Trump metaphor

This came to my mind when I read a C&L post:

Trump and his peeps are the dung beetles of today's culture. They are burrowing deep into the middens of history and recycling its least humanistic ideas for modern consumption. As receptacles of the rejected, middens are repositories of death and disease. The Resistance has the crucial role of defending the U.S. and the larger global community from the toxins unearthed by DJT & Co. Ideally, his influence can be contained, destroyed and if possible, immunized against.

response:

Dung beetles have a constructive purpose . . . GOParasites don't.

my response:

Indeed, dung beetles recycle organic matter from organic waste back into the ecosystem. DJT & peeps are recycling the worst tendencies of humanity. Everyone needs to heed the words of Martin Niemöller: 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews [asylum seekers], and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew [an asylum seeker].
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

How do the GWB and DJT administrations differ?

Based on the economic/social 'shocks' described by Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine:

GWB had the 'civility' to wait for economic/social 'shocks' to occur before triggering his anti-democratic agenda. In particular, September 11 to change the balance of power in the Middle East and any number of domestic power grabs.

Every incident of DJT operating outside of 'normality' is DJT throwing bombs to purposefully manufacture economic/social 'shocks': travel ban, trade wars, 'good people on both sides', Dropping Paris Climate Agreement, dropping Iran Nuclear Deal, meeting Kim Jong-un, splintering asylum seeking families... As this is happening, DJT's Cabinet and the Republican Congress are destroying consumer/environmental protection, civil rights protection, and stacking the courts against democratic governance. And that's only the start.

posted as comment as C&L

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, respectfully

A few days after White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders got a lot of flack for defending the DJT policy of separating children from parents of asylum seekers at the southern border, she and her family decide to dine at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Va (~180 miles from D.C.). The owner of the restaurant did not want to serve her and asked them to leave. Her twitter response:

Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 23, 2018

My comment:

"...Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so"
— Sarah Sanders

The manager did treat you respectfully - you and your group were verbally asked to leave-together. You were not forcibly separated from your children by strangers and sent to different parts of the country without any means of contact or reunification.

It's just the capitalistic way

Digby pointed out the Trump administration is selling American foreign policy for private gain. The Trump cabal sees it as an extension of capitalism - profiting from the sale of a sought after service.

Guns don't kill people...

There was another mass school shooting yesterday. This time in Florida with 17 dead so far. Every American knows the standard NRA/Republican Party response: thoughts and prayers; too soon to talk about gun control and the incredibly hackneyed, guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Let me offer an analogy...

Guns don't kill people in the same way the influenza virus doesn't kill people. Flu victims with strained immune systems succumb to secondary infections. In the same manner, the primary condition of being 'people' does not mean they automatically pick up any available instrument to kill other people. It's people with stressful secondary conditions such as mental illness, anger issues and other social pressures who succumb to the easy solution of readily available guns to 'solve' their problems.

So I suggest that all supporters of unlimited/unrestrained gun rights not get a flu shot this flu season. They can take their chances with the flu virus just as they inflict the gun virus on the entire country. Hopefully, their stupidity will earn them a Darwin Award to the benefit of humanity.

Working Animals of these United States

A comment of implications of GOP Tax bill at TRNN:

I am reminded of the video of newly hatched male chicks being fed to a shredder and the knowledge that male dairy calves are turned into veal or beef. Federal tax policy now bins Americans like farm animals are binned: useless (no profit to be made) ones are actively destroyed to not 'drain' the system of resources, moderately profitable animals are rushed through the bulking process to quickly turn a profit, and most profitable are mass factory farmed to extract the most profits in the shortest time until their productivity drops into one of the lesser classes. It's clear the elderly and ill are 'useless' (proposed cuts to social programs); children are moderately profitable (school privatization & school-to-prison pipeline); and, finally, prime working age adults are underpaid and work long hours at multiple jobs until they fall ill of stress or exhaustion, at which point, they join the useless class. Working Americans are the farm animals of American capitalists.  

Resist!

Commonalities

I caught a little bit of the NPR program 1A on hazing. A male guest (academic anti-hazing advocate) said that given the opportunity, he would choose to repeat his experience because it produced strong bond with his friends...

This sounds a lot like the bonding that happens in the military which can result from the shared torture of basic training or combat.

This also sounds like tight sibling bonds that occur in chaotic households, think abusive situations.

...so questions: Do these phenomena have same psychological basis? If so, can they be triggered without trauma... how can be triggered without trauma? The point is informed decision making by people who choose to join the military or fraternity.

Looting by any other name

 DWT has a post discussing the effect of the Ryan-Trump Tax Bill on education. My comment:

-Leverage buyout 'investment' (see Mitt Romney a la Bain Capital).-Agriculture caused desertification (Dust Bowl, expanding deserts in Africa, desertification in Latin America).
-Surface mining (includes strip mining, open pit mining and mountain top removal). All forms of looting with specialized knowledge. They are characterized by (1) speed - victims don't have time to realize danger and mount defenses; (2) dirty - function of speed; (3) crude - function of speed; (4) cheap operating costs - minimum investment in workers, capital, safety, etc. The goal is to strip a resource of everything that can be sold for money as quickly and cheaply as possible. The result is rich looters and no resources - businesses without capital to produce; land without water for farming; land without clean water, soil capable of supporting life and contaminated with introduced toxins and mine tailings. The Ryan-Trump Tax Bill loots the public commons by tax policy. Taxes are the resources of a nation; they pay for the public commons of education, healthcare, infrastructure, public services, defense, etc. By reducing the tax payments of the wealthy, this tax plan is effectively looting the public commons. The danger is the destruction will be so deep and thorough, recovery will be nigh impossible.

They are victims too

Comment at DownWithTyranny post about prospect of confronting Nazis with violence:

Even if violence could resolve right wing extremism, it would be violence against our fellow citizens, friends, family and colleagues. The wounds of the American Civil War have not fully healed and now we are actually considering another civil war. Scary times. 

Not to be overly Pollyannish but here's something else to consider: White supremacists are right in the sense that they are victims, just not victims of the people they hold responsible. Like the majority of us, they are victims of an economic system that preys on workers; unlike most, they are also victims of movement recruiters who feed their aggrievement a nasty diet of race blaming. A parallel would be deceitful military recruiters. The leaders of these movements are the real evildoers. 

NPR interviewed A Reformed White Nationalist Speaks Out On Charlottesville.

Transparency for economics, transparency for democracy

From wikipedia:

In economics, perfect information is a feature of perfect competition. With perfect information in a market, all consumers and producers are assumed to have perfect knowledge of price, utility, quality and production methods of products, when theorizing the systems of free markets, and effects of financial policies.

-

In economics and game theory, complete information is a term used to describe an economic situation or game in which knowledge about other market participants or players is available to all participants. The utility functions, payoffs, strategies and "types" of players are thus common knowledge.

Inversely, in a game with incomplete information, players may not possess full information about their opponents. Some players may possess private information that the others should take into account when forming expectations about how a player would behave. A typical example is an auction: each player knows his own utility function (= valuation for the item), but does not know the utility function of the other players. 

***

This implies the defining feature of a free market is perfect information. Voting is also a type of market, as such, perfect information should be the defining feature of fully democratic participation. In real life, there is no such thing as perfect information... but we can strive for much better transparency.