Tag: trump

Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

The Midterms & Beyond: The Problem with Looking for Fighters

Identity derivation causes demonization. Timothy Keller Currently, the midterm outlook is fairly positive for the Dems. Trump’s approval rating is low. Prices remain stubbornly high, which is causing the Fed to keep interest rates high, which then puts a drag on certain parts of the economy. The war in Iran is unpopular, despite the constant assertion by Trump and the GOP that we were on … Continue reading The Midterms & Beyond: The Problem with Looking for Fighters

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Uncategorized, Politics & Culture, Bigger Home Bases

Out of Control: Regular People Against the World

Freedom is participation in power. Cicero There were a couple different triggers for this installment. First, the literal law-breaking of a swarm of AI bots, which in July escaped their OpenAI sandbox to commit actual data breach felonies against another company, and then made efforts to cover their tracks, an event that has spurred some AI bigwigs (even Elon Musk!?) to amplify their warnings about … Continue reading Out of Control: Regular People Against the World

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Uncategorized, Politics & Culture

What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 2)

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience. George Washington Last time, we explored how the radical break with the status quo that has been opened up by Donald Trump’s wrecking-ball lunacy might actually provide an opening for liberals to create their own bold project for transcending the … Continue reading What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 2)

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Uncategorized, Politics & Culture

What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 1)

What joins the Americans one to another is not a common ancestry, language or race, but a shared work of the imagination that looks forward to the making of a future, not backward to the insignia of the past. Lewis Lapham I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress … Continue reading What Kind of Country Do We Want to Be? (Part 1)

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Uncategorized, Politics & Culture, Economics, Bigger Home Bases

Are Bad Economic Indicators Actually a Sign of Hope?

If you are in a shipwreck and all the boats are gone, a piano top buoyant enough to keep you afloat that comes along makes a fortuitous life preserver. But this is not to say that the best way to design a life preserver is in the form of a piano top. I think that we are clinging to a great many piano tops in … Continue reading Are Bad Economic Indicators Actually a Sign of Hope?

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Uncategorized, Politics & Culture, Economics

It’s Not Always the Economy, Stupid

Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think? L Frank Baum Last time, we looked at the dreaded C-word, capitalism. For this go-around, we’re going to pivot to en even more shadowy E-word, The Economy. Unlike capitalism, talk of the economy is everywhere, and it has largely been assumed that the primary role of national leadership in the US is … Continue reading It’s Not Always the Economy, Stupid

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Why the Voter Fraud Myth is the Core of Trumpism

Noncitizens are not permitted to vote in state and federal elections. It’s a federal crime for noncitizens to register or vote in federal elections, and it’s a crime under every state’s laws. So it should come as no surprise that every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is vanishingly rare. Brennan Center for Justice Trump … Continue reading Why the Voter Fraud Myth is the Core of Trumpism

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Bigger Home Bases, Economics, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

A Rural Strategy for Libs

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. E.F. Schumacher As we have covered many times in this blog, American political and cultural polarization is almost completely a rural-vs-urban split. As the sophistication and cost of political operations have expanded over the … Continue reading A Rural Strategy for Libs

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Bigger Home Bases, Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Battle for the Soul of America: A Three-Horse Race

You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time. Angela Davis What lies ahead? Reimagining the world. Only that. Arundhati Roy As Donald Trump sinks further into his dementia-addled, narcissistic hate bubble, and the Democratic would-be king breakers cross their fingers, toes, and every other appendage, hoping that a midterm blue … Continue reading Battle for the Soul of America: A Three-Horse Race

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Politics & Culture, Uncategorized

Trumpism’s Big Problem: Trump

In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, ‘Now shut up and obey me.’ People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business Max Weber Like many liberals, I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to crawl inside the headspace of Trump supporters, attempting to figure out what, if anything, could … Continue reading Trumpism’s Big Problem: Trump

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