Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Marcus Daniels]

“The only solution to the problem of fake news that neither misdiagnoses the 
problem nor overpowers the elites is to completely rethink the fundamentals of 
digital capitalism. We need to make online advertising – and its destructive 
click-and-share drive – less central to how we live, work and communicate.”

Well, advertising existed before digital advertising.   Investigative reporting 
has been and is an important profession.  It takes time, effort, and expertise 
to turn over rocks and figure out what the important questions are, and how to 
answer them.  That digital capitalism has a particular technical mechanism that 
is prone to proliferating nonsense is a problem that can be fixed with a 
combination of legislation/regulation and technology.   That is no more elitist 
(or authoritarian) to insist that food producers publish standard nutritional 
properties.   Yes, there are more and less credible sources for reporting, and 
in principle, the web makes this easier to communicate to readers, not harder.  
 We have cryptographic ways to (reasonably) prove that entities are who they 
say they are, and ways to prove that source documents have not be tainted.  We 
even have very sophisticated open source technology for parsing natural 
language into data structures and for reasoning based on these data structures.

I would not say that online advertising is becoming more conspicuous in my work 
or personal use of computing technology.   I don’t use Facebook at all, and 
Twitter is mainly interesting as a way to gain insight about large scale social 
networks.   I don’t communicate with Twitter.   I don’t use Instagram.   I do 
use Google and a few other search engines, and I don’t find it hard to 
discriminate between ads and content.I consume advertisements from credible 
news outlets like I would have 30 years ago.   All of the modeling these 
companies do of me can be defeated just by using Tor, if I should choose to be 
so paranoid.   Actually I think I get less advertising than I used to because I 
now just pay for Hulu, Netflix and XM radio instead of using broadcast 
television and radio.

If I am annoyed by one thing, it is that there are so many morons on the 
Internet that now don’t have to be exposed to criticism.   Usenet was different 
in this respect.Let us bring back the good old days of Usenet flame wars.  
When stubborn ignorance could get you humiliated in public and without mercy, 
over and over.

Marcus

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Roger Critchlow
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 9:11 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis

-- rec --

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:58 PM, Merle Lefkoff 
> wrote:
There's no need for a he/she, Owen.  The term has no relevance when talking 
about the presidency.

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:31 AM, Owen Densmore 
> wrote:
Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.

In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we have 
been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian people to 
feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of Putin to the 
degree they do.

Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25 Damns over 
him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another economic 
implosion which we survived pretty well.

I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or what 
blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent defense of the 
nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.

Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that, whatever 
a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected, exogenous 
events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case. I hope he 
takes the MoneyBall stance.

   -- Owen


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--
Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
merlelef...@gmail.com
mobile:  (303) 859-5609
skype:  merle.lelfkoff2


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FRIAM 

Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Nick Thompson]

Hey, Owen, 

 

When I was 32 or so, I ran for the post of Planning Board Chair for the Town of 
New Braintree.  I was young and very idealistic about participatory democracy, 
and so I set as my goal to visit every house in Town to talk about the future 
of the Town, which was just small enough that that goal was plausible.   Like 
every small New England town, New  Braintree it was riven with factionalism and 
anger.  However, my hosts agreed upon one thing for sure:  “they” were 
responsible for all that was wrong with the Town.  Thing was, I never found out 
who “they” was.  I never even found a “We.”  Political unity existed only in 
the mind of those who saw themselves the victims of it.  

 

It was about that year that the this cartoon appeared.  

 



 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

  
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 10:09 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

 

All those who were outside the set of those hurt by their decisions.

 

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:50 PM, Nick Thompson  > wrote:

O

 

And who, exactly, is this “elite” of whom we speak with such assurance and 
contempt? 

 

N

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

  
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com 
 ] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 9:38 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group  >
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

 

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Roger Critchlow  > wrote:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis

 

-- rec --

 

​Amen!

 

​Democracy may or may not be drowning in fake news, but it’s definitely 
drowning in elite hypocrisy.​

 

I

​ hope we're able to escape that ourselves​. I'm concerned that we too are 
"smug liberals". I hope I can invite my garbage collector to my next party as 
Pope Francis did.

 

   -- Owen



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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Marcus Daniels]

Which decisions, exactly?

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 10:09 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

All those who were outside the set of those hurt by their decisions.

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:50 PM, Nick Thompson 
> wrote:
O

And who, exactly, is this “elite” of whom we speak with such assurance and 
contempt?

N

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam 
[mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf 
Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 9:38 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Roger Critchlow 
> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis

-- rec --

​Amen!

​Democracy may or may not be drowning in fake news, but it’s definitely 
drowning in elite hypocrisy.​

I
​ hope we're able to escape that ourselves​. I'm concerned that we too are 
"smug liberals". I hope I can invite my garbage collector to my next party as 
Pope Francis did.

   -- Owen


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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Owen Densmore]

All those who were outside the set of those hurt by their decisions.

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:50 PM, Nick Thompson 
wrote:

> O
>
>
>
> And who, exactly, is this “elite” of whom we speak with such assurance and
> contempt?
>
>
>
> N
>
>
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>
> Clark University
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Owen
> Densmore
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 07, 2017 9:38 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
> friam@redfish.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair
>
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Roger Critchlow  wrote:
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/
> blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis
>
>
>
> -- rec --
>
>
>
> ​Amen!
>
>
>
> ​Democracy may or may not be drowning in fake news, but it’s definitely
> drowning in elite hypocrisy.​
>
>
>
> I
>
> ​ hope we're able to escape that ourselves​. I'm concerned that we too are
> "smug liberals". I hope I can invite my garbage collector to my next party
> as Pope Francis did.
>
>
>
>-- Owen
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>

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[FRIAM] In Computer Languages, Clarity Is Key | Princeton Alumni Weekly

[Owen Densmore]

Brian Kernighan is set to publish a new book:
​  ​
https://paw.princeton.edu/article/computer-languages-clarity-key

​For those of us who have asked for a good explanation of all things
digital, this might be it.​

​   -- Owen​

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Nick Thompson]

O

 

And who, exactly, is this “elite” of whom we speak with such assurance and 
contempt? 

 

N

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

  
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 9:38 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

 

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Roger Critchlow  > wrote:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis

 

-- rec --

 

​Amen!

 

​Democracy may or may not be drowning in fake news, but it’s definitely 
drowning in elite hypocrisy.​

 

I

​ hope we're able to escape that ourselves​. I'm concerned that we too are 
"smug liberals". I hope I can invite my garbage collector to my next party as 
Pope Francis did.

 

   -- Owen


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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Owen Densmore]

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 9:11 PM, Roger Critchlow  wrote:

> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/
> blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis
>
> -- rec --
>

​Amen!

​Democracy may or may not be drowning in fake news, but it’s definitely
drowning in elite hypocrisy.​


I
​ hope we're able to escape that ourselves​. I'm concerned that we too are
"smug liberals". I hope I can invite my garbage collector to my next party
as Pope Francis did.

   -- Owen

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Nick Thompson]

Owen:

 

cause another economic implosion which we survived pretty well.

 

“We” did?

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

  
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Merle Lefkoff
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2017 8:59 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group 
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

 

There's no need for a he/she, Owen.  The term has no relevance when talking 
about the presidency.

 

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:31 AM, Owen Densmore  > wrote:

Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.

 

In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we have 
been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian people to 
feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of Putin to the 
degree they do.

 

Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25 Damns over 
him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another economic 
implosion which we survived pretty well.

 

I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or what 
blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent defense of the 
nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.

 

Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that, whatever 
a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected, exogenous 
events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case. I hope he 
takes the MoneyBall stance.

 

   -- Owen



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-- 

Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
merlelef...@gmail.com  
mobile:  (303) 859-5609
skype:  merle.lelfkoff2


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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Merle Lefkoff]

There's no need for a he/she, Owen.  The term has no relevance when talking
about the presidency.

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:31 AM, Owen Densmore  wrote:

> Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.
>
> In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we
> have been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian
> people to feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of
> Putin to the degree they do.
>
> Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25 Damns
> over him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another
> economic implosion which we survived pretty well.
>
> I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or
> what blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent
> defense of the nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.
>
> Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that,
> whatever a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected,
> exogenous events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case.
> I hope he takes the MoneyBall stance.
>
>-- Owen
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>



-- 
Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
merlelef...@gmail.com
mobile:  (303) 859-5609
skype:  merle.lelfkoff2

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Merle Lefkoff]

It starts at home, Owen, but if it only stays at home it isn't enough.

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Owen Densmore  wrote:

> I realized too late that my reference to the number of Damns one has may
> not have been clear.  From an earlier post:
>
> BTW: I realize I've posted this in the past, and my version of it uses s/
> fuck/damn/. But I've only got a limited number of Damn's to give, and the
> fewer, the stronger.
> https://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck
>
> So I just don't give a Damn about the president, no matter who. I have
> too few to give. My first Damn is for Love & Compassion, kinda weak I
> realize but then I think I can stop war by being peaceful myself. It all
> starts at home.
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:31 AM, Owen Densmore 
> wrote:
>
>> Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.
>>
>> In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we
>> have been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian
>> people to feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of
>> Putin to the degree they do.
>>
>> Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25
>> Damns over him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause
>> another economic implosion which we survived pretty well.
>>
>> I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or
>> what blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent
>> defense of the nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.
>>
>> Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that,
>> whatever a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected,
>> exogenous events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case.
>> I hope he takes the MoneyBall stance.
>>
>>-- Owen
>>
>
>
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
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>



-- 
Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
merlelef...@gmail.com
mobile:  (303) 859-5609
skype:  merle.lelfkoff2

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[FRIAM] How a complex network of bills becomes a law: Introducing a new data analysis of text incorporation… – Medium

[Tom Johnson]

Intriguing work here.

https://medium.com/@govtrack/how-a-complex-network-of-bills-becomes-a-law-9972b9624d36#.sfjbypbc3

TJ

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Jochen Fromm]

Yes, I am not criticizing the CEOs, I just wonder what the next four years will 
bring, Owen mentioned Brenners "three choices" for the US
1 - Indispensable America
2 - Moneyball America
3 - Independent America
Interesting from a political perspective. From a complex systems viewpoint it 
is also interesting if one of the oldest democracies of the world finally 
slides into some kind of *-ism (fascism, cronyism, totalitarianism), how it 
occurs, and if we can prevent it somehow. 
In their attenpt for perfection the Germans have experienced all this already 
before. Hitler's movement was based on the outrage of the common people, on the 
desire of the "ordinary Joe" to be great again. There we are, Godwin's law 
strikes again. Many ordinary people were indeed happy to find new jobs through 
the Nazi party. Adolf Eichmann and Heinrich Himmler were among them, both had 
low-paying jobs or no jobs at all before they got a job in the Nazi party.
Currently for many members of the Republican party the hunger for power and 
government positions seems to be greater than their conscience and their moral 
integrity. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel if the Republicans 
eventually give up their desire for power. If they can impeach Bill Clinton, 
maybe they can do it with Trump do. It shouldn't be difficult to find reasons.
There is hope as long as democratic institutions continue to work. Where the 
alarm bells should ring and what must be avoided is:
-  the creation of a new party or movement at the far right focussed solely on 
the president, protected by some kind of homeland security organization- a 
complete seizure of power which leads to a dictatorship, for instance after a 
terrible terror attack - concentration camps of any kind for political 
opponents, illegal immigrants, Muslims or whoever the new president declares as 
the new enemy- any kind of creation of a registry or database or list of people 
based on immigration status or religion
It is nice to see that the big IT companies signed a pledge for the last point 
already http://neveragain.tech
-J.

 Original message From: John Dobson  Date: 
1/7/17  19:41  (GMT+01:00) To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee 
Group  Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair 
My son who works for Google explained why the tech CEOs met with Trump.  The 
general rule out there is that you always "take the meeting."  Taking the 
meeting in no way obligates you to do anything as a result of the meeting, but 
it does give you more information about the topics discussed at the meeting.  
In his view, this was a smart thing to do for the techies, but it is hardly 
surprising that they were not overly gruntled about the conclave.  So your 
comment about them resembling Ring-wraiths is spot on.  But it certainly does 
not mean that the meeting represented any sort of endorsement of the Donald.
On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 7:18 AM, Jochen Fromm  wrote:
Many scientists and journalists feel desperate now that Mr. T-Rump will rule 
the world, especially climate scientists like Eric 
Holthaushttps://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/817503888500633600
What are we going to do, hope or despair, resist or surrender? I'm not sure if 
we are heading towards climate hell, criminal abyss or nuclear apocalypse, or 
if America is just turning into 
Trumpistan...https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/opinion/america-becomes-a-stan.amp.html
Do you remember this odd meeting where Trump met the bosses of the big 
IT-companies? None of them looked happy, but they all came. It felt like Sauron 
is going to meet the Ring-wraiths. Each of the Ringwraiths already owns a ring 
of power. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple have enormous power, some say a 
single one of them is worth more than all corporations at the Russian 
stockmarkets together. In Tolkien's epic story Sauron is beaten by the Hobbit 
Frodo who destroys the ring of power in the mountain of doom. Frodo seems to 
stand for the ordinary Joe, i.e. the ordinary people, who eventually give up 
the desire for power. Now if everyone would give up using Twitter and Facebook, 
Mr. T-Rump who lose his social media power there immediately, he would become 
bored of politics and quit. Too good to be true.
Likewise if the ordinary Joe would give up his desire to become great, rich and 
famous, then Trump wouldn't have been elected in the first place. Isn't it 
remarkable how Tolkien has observed that totalitarian dictatorships rest on the 
shoulders of the ordinary people? In Russia it is similar, the dictatorship 
here rests on the few shoulders of the small people, who depend on the welfare 
state that feeds them and tells them lies.
-Jochen





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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[John Dobson]

My son who works for Google explained why the tech CEOs met with Trump.
The general rule out there is that you always "take the meeting."  Taking
the meeting in no way obligates you to do anything as a result of the
meeting, but it does give you more information about the topics discussed
at the meeting.  In his view, this was a smart thing to do for the techies,
but it is hardly surprising that they were not overly gruntled about the
conclave.  So your comment about them resembling Ring-wraiths is spot on.
But it certainly does not mean that the meeting represented any sort of
endorsement of the Donald.

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 7:18 AM, Jochen Fromm  wrote:

> Many scientists and journalists feel desperate now that Mr. T-Rump will
> rule the world, especially climate scientists like Eric Holthaus
> https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/817503888500633600
>
> What are we going to do, hope or despair, resist or surrender? I'm not
> sure if we are heading towards climate hell, criminal abyss or nuclear
> apocalypse, or if America is just turning into Trumpistan...
> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/opinion/america-becomes-a-stan.amp.html
>
> Do you remember this odd meeting where Trump met the bosses of the big
> IT-companies? None of them looked happy, but they all came. It felt like
> Sauron is going to meet the Ring-wraiths. Each of the Ringwraiths already
> owns a ring of power. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple have enormous
> power, some say a single one of them is worth more than all corporations at
> the Russian stockmarkets together. In Tolkien's epic story Sauron is beaten
> by the Hobbit Frodo who destroys the ring of power in the mountain of doom.
> Frodo seems to stand for the ordinary Joe, i.e. the ordinary people, who
> eventually give up the desire for power. Now if everyone would give up
> using Twitter and Facebook, Mr. T-Rump who lose his social media power
> there immediately, he would become bored of politics and quit. Too good to
> be true.
>
> Likewise if the ordinary Joe would give up his desire to become great,
> rich and famous, then Trump wouldn't have been elected in the first place.
> Isn't it remarkable how Tolkien has observed that totalitarian
> dictatorships rest on the shoulders of the ordinary people? In Russia it is
> similar, the dictatorship here rests on the few shoulders of the small
> people, who depend on the welfare state that feeds them and tells them lies.
>
> -Jochen
>
>
>
>
> 
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>

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Marcus Daniels]

Owen writes:


"Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another economic 
implosion which we survived pretty well."


For certain definitions of "we".   In that spirit, let's return to the 
chemotherapy example, or consider fluctuations in deer population as a function 
of hunting policy, or life in Allepo.   The respective populations won't get 
completely annihilated, but they are big fluctuations.


Of course we as a population will "survive pretty well".  That's a goal for 
deep sea bacterial, not wealthy democracies.   As a population we will survive 
even if everyone carries an AK-47 and uses it every time their feelings get 
hurt.


Marcus


From: Friam  on behalf of Owen Densmore 

Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 10:31:02 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.

In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we have 
been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian people to 
feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of Putin to the 
degree they do.

Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25 Damns over 
him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another economic 
implosion which we survived pretty well.

I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or what 
blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent defense of the 
nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.

Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that, whatever 
a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected, exogenous 
events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case. I hope he 
takes the MoneyBall stance.

   -- Owen

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Owen Densmore]

I realized too late that my reference to the number of Damns one has may
not have been clear.  From an earlier post:

BTW: I realize I've posted this in the past, and my version of it uses s/
fuck/damn/. But I've only got a limited number of Damn's to give, and the
fewer, the stronger.
https://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck

So I just don't give a Damn about the president, no matter who. I have too
few to give. My first Damn is for Love & Compassion, kinda weak I realize
but then I think I can stop war by being peaceful myself. It all starts at
home.


On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 10:31 AM, Owen Densmore  wrote:

> Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.
>
> In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we
> have been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian
> people to feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of
> Putin to the degree they do.
>
> Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25 Damns
> over him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another
> economic implosion which we survived pretty well.
>
> I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or
> what blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent
> defense of the nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.
>
> Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that,
> whatever a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected,
> exogenous events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case.
> I hope he takes the MoneyBall stance.
>
>-- Owen
>

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Re: [FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Owen Densmore]

Clearly you need to attend to Kissinger and Bremmer.

In terms of Russia, Kissinger's analysis of the Nation State suggests we
have been far too shallow. There are very good reasons for the Russian
people to feel exposed by the west's encroachment, and why they approve of
Putin to the degree they do.

Trump is no threat. I personally have not given up even one of my 25 Damns
over him. Any threatened Rape and Pillage will likely just cause another
economic implosion which we survived pretty well.

I am curious, however, which of Bremmers 3 Americas Trump tends to, or what
blend of the three. And what Trump thinks of Kissinger's recent defense of
the nation state .. I know Kissinger is meeting with Trump.

Presidential politics are unique. Presidential historians agree that,
whatever a president has promised, he/she is always formed by unexpected,
exogenous events. At a guess, they will be foreign affairs in Trump's case.
I hope he takes the MoneyBall stance.

   -- Owen

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[FRIAM] Hope or Despair

[Jochen Fromm]

Many scientists and journalists feel desperate now that Mr. T-Rump will rule 
the world, especially climate scientists like Eric 
Holthaushttps://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/817503888500633600
What are we going to do, hope or despair, resist or surrender? I'm not sure if 
we are heading towards climate hell, criminal abyss or nuclear apocalypse, or 
if America is just turning into 
Trumpistan...https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/opinion/america-becomes-a-stan.amp.html
Do you remember this odd meeting where Trump met the bosses of the big 
IT-companies? None of them looked happy, but they all came. It felt like Sauron 
is going to meet the Ring-wraiths. Each of the Ringwraiths already owns a ring 
of power. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple have enormous power, some say a 
single one of them is worth more than all corporations at the Russian 
stockmarkets together. In Tolkien's epic story Sauron is beaten by the Hobbit 
Frodo who destroys the ring of power in the mountain of doom. Frodo seems to 
stand for the ordinary Joe, i.e. the ordinary people, who eventually give up 
the desire for power. Now if everyone would give up using Twitter and Facebook, 
Mr. T-Rump who lose his social media power there immediately, he would become 
bored of politics and quit. Too good to be true.
Likewise if the ordinary Joe would give up his desire to become great, rich and 
famous, then Trump wouldn't have been elected in the first place. Isn't it 
remarkable how Tolkien has observed that totalitarian dictatorships rest on the 
shoulders of the ordinary people? In Russia it is similar, the dictatorship 
here rests on the few shoulders of the small people, who depend on the welfare 
state that feeds them and tells them lies.
-Jochen



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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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