tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-690820322003845792024-03-05T20:53:11.171-08:00Robin's Blogrobinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-61819334559835365972022-10-23T06:56:00.001-07:002022-11-25T09:17:34.561-08:00Caricatures, Cultural Understanding and Color Blindness<p>If we want to understand cultures different from our own, we should not resort to caricaturing them. We shouldn't simply exaggerate the differences - but focus on the similarities and imagine what causes the differences. Doing this can be difficult - because our culture usually leaves us with blind spots.</p><br /><p><a href="Approximately 1/12 men and 1/200 women are color blind">Approximately 1/12 men and 1/200 women are color blind</a>. So our perception of other cultures is affected by genetics and gender. This fact should be somewhat discouraging to anyone who wants to avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings - people with similar genetics have a tendency to be culturally similar.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/wp-content/uploads/locke.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="365" src="https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/wp-content/uploads/locke.png" width="365" /></a></div><p></p><p>The English Philosopher <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke">John Locke</a> coined the phrase <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa">Tabula rasa</a> which means 'Blank slate' in Latin. He believed that our mind was formed solely by our perceptions - thus all the ideas we understand and believe in are derived from our experiences. John Locke's ideas were also important in the development of human rights and religious tolerance - the US Declaration of Independence's memorable phrase "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was an homage to Locke's writings.</p><p><br /></p><p>But genetic differences between humans are at odds with the notion that improving human environments are an effective way of enabling the poorest humans to reach the same capacities as the richest. And color blindness is far from the only psychological trait influenced by genetics. Does this mean Locke's view of human nature was wrong we need to reconsider all his political ideas in light of modern science?</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_(1953)_film_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="220" height="329" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_(1953)_film_poster.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Humans don't need science to detect genetic differences. We judge each other based on genetic factors all the time (the clearest examples of this are racism and sexism). In some cases, these judgments become part of a culture. The phrase 'gentlemen prefer blondes' was initially a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_(novel)">book</a> and then a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_(1953_film)">movie</a>. The worldwide market for hair coloring is a <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/6216/hair-color-dye-market-in-the-us/">29 billion dollar (and increasing) business</a> - and it's no surprise that most of the customers of hair dye are women.</p><p><br /></p><p>Apparently genetics can explain cultural trends. But the majority of men have normal color vision - less than 10% are colorblind. So why don't more of those 91.66% of men with normal color vision dye their hair? Why is the standard formal clothing for men a black suit when women's dresses come in hundreds of colors?</p><p><br /></p><p>The answer may be found in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology">Evolutionary Psychology</a>. If we assume that our female ancestors were gatherers and our male ancestors were hunters - then color blindness could be advantageous. People who are color blind can detect camouflage more easily. So a colorblind hunter could be a leader in hunting - or in detecting an enemy tribes' camouflage. </p><p><br /></p><p>The interactions between culture and genetics are complex. It can be tempting to proclaim that scientific findings prove that certain stereotypes are justified. But resorting to caricaturing culture differences we undermine the complexity of humanity and its history.</p>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-31884346159438664422020-10-25T10:36:00.001-07:002020-10-25T10:50:32.220-07:00Promises To Keep<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4n2t9BDQPe9yGxAXeX2xoEf3xJDwkBlU2cZn5-JFmaHRfF6AjiFiNMUMrjsnGl06lXcOjQtFHuV8Ny1G6WK23-5j3edcXlMfCYppE6ZraSri8kmDf_L-ZdJzbgJZEoqwRTjRD7XK7CQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="257" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4n2t9BDQPe9yGxAXeX2xoEf3xJDwkBlU2cZn5-JFmaHRfF6AjiFiNMUMrjsnGl06lXcOjQtFHuV8Ny1G6WK23-5j3edcXlMfCYppE6ZraSri8kmDf_L-ZdJzbgJZEoqwRTjRD7XK7CQ/w185-h286/image.png" width="185" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Joe Biden is so old and was in Congress for so long that Promises to Keep serves as a history of the US Senate. Before the current political divide, Senate luminaries (and failed presidential candidates) Barry Goldwater (R) and Hubert Humphrey (D) would treat each other respectfully. Biden's 2008 Presidential run was likely motivated by the Bush Administrations recklessness in the 2003 Iraq War while he was Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.</p><p>Promises to Keep is largely biographical and begins with stories about Biden's education and family. He candidly describes his stutter and how he managed it as well as his failure to correctly cite in law school (which journalists would discover after a similar incident in his 1988 Presidential run). He admits his academic shortcomings but refences his recommendations from people who believed in his motivation and character.</p><p>Family is clearly important to Joe Biden. His political development began by listening to his grandparents political discussions. Though his first wife tragically died just six years into their marriage, he does dedicate a portion of the book's contents to her (including her family who are Republicans). Joe also received substantial help in both taking care of his half orphaned children and running his political campaign from his siblings.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">Why aren't there many politicians in the middle of the road? </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: large;">Because that's where the roadkill is</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Biden was blessed with some luck towards the beginning of his political career. After winning a county council seat in the Republican New Castle County (in Delaware) he challenged long term Republican incumbent Senator J. Caleb Boggs and pulled an upset victory. As somebody barely of legal age to be a Senator, Biden received mentorship from older Senators. Furthermore he began his career immediately after the death of his wife which earned him sympathy (except from the media).</p><p><br /></p><p>During the 1988 Presidential Election Biden was the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and responsible for conducting hearings for Ronald Reagan's nomination of the notorious Robert Bork. Biden outlines why he disagrees with Bork's judicial philosophy and how he was able to convey this to other Senators.</p><p><br /></p><p>Additionally, Biden chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. At various points Biden was a key intermediary between strong personalities like Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev. He took a proactive stance in an attempt to prevent the widespread violence in the former Yugoslavia starting at the end of the George H.W. Bush administration but wasn't able to convince the executive branch to take necessary action until the end of the Clinton administration. Biden also visited Afghanistan despite limited support from the George W Bush administration. He candidly describes the squalor of the country despite the success of the US invasion. That contributed to his criticism of the Iraq War, where Bush was inadequately prepared for the aftermath of another successful invasion.</p><p><br /></p><p>In an era of 30-second political ads and two minute debate answers it is refreshing to explore political perspective with the nuance of a 365 page book. Biden has faced significant criticism for his 1994 crime bill but this book reveals that he needed a larger bill to attach his VAWA (violence against women act) to. Given the nature of politics and promises it's difficult to use this book to make predictions about what a Biden presidency would look like. But when contrast with The Art of the Deal it's clear that Biden's attitude is dramatically different from Trump's. Biden is nuanced, determined but willing to compromise to achieve his vision. </p>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-42294956973584389292020-02-15T07:38:00.000-08:002020-02-24T14:27:31.692-08:00Bernie Sanders hair-brained plan to reduce inequality could backfire and give Trump a very Merry Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's an American tradition of lying to children and telling them if they behave, they'll be rewarded with toys from Santa Claus on Christmas. There are a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus">variety of explanations as the origins of this mythological figure.</a> But at this point he's entrenched in American culture and finding out that Santa Claus is fictional is a rite of passage for most children in the USA.<br />
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Hypothetically, telling children they will be rewarded for good behavior could make them do better in school, less likely to commit crime and more likely to do their chores. But <a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/insights/i/quarter-of-americans-will-take-on-debt-for-holidays/">in 2019 1 in 4 Americans expected to go into debt to pay for the holidays and more than half (52%) of Americans said they would skip holiday gift giving if they could.</a><br />
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So perhaps the belief in Santa Claus causes more pessimism than optimism. Children will eventually learn that their gifts cost money and that somebody had to work to provide those gifts.<br />
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But that's not inevitable - there are <a href="https://santaclausinc.com/about.cfm">charities which distribute toys and practical items to underprivileged children.</a> Voters could demand that the Federal government guarantees every child a gift for Christmas. It's interesting that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders">Senior Senator of the State of Vermont, Bernard "Bernie" Sanders</a> hasn't proposed any such plan. He's proposed <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/">Medicare for All, College for All, a "Green" New Deal, Expansion of Social Security, Housing for All, High Speed Internet For All, Legalizing Marijuana as well as twenty other plans</a>.<br />
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I suppose if he succeeded in implementing all of the plans on his website, children wouldn't be upset if they didn't get a toy on Christmas - even though they might be confused that a man who looks so much like Santa Claus has priorities other than giving them toys.<br />
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Some think that the DNC acted like a Grinch and prevented Senator Sanders from becoming President. There's some truth to their claims <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Podesta">the Chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential Campaign, John Podesta had his email hacked which revealed</a> that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/23/12261020/dnc-email-leaks-explained">Democratic National Committee Chief Financial Officer Brad Marshall suggested characterizing Senator Sanders as an atheist to ensure he lost the Democratic Primaries in Kentucky and West Virginia</a>.<br />
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That evidence, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/11/03/561976645/clinton-campaign-had-additional-signed-agreement-with-dnc-in-2015">along with other facts</a> has led many Sanders supporters to suggest that the DNC 'rigged' the election in favor of Hillary Clinton.<br />
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Aside from the evidence from Wikileaks - there are other anomalies in Hillary Clinton's 2016 Democratic Primary Victory. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_voice_privilege">An analysis of the voices and speech during Presidential debates shows that the candidate with a deeper voice usually wins.</a> And <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-election-tallest-candidates-trump-height-biden-warren-obama-a9207876.html">there's evidence showing that the taller candidate wins Presidential Elections 2/3rds of the time</a>. So how could the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_presidents_and_presidential_candidates_of_the_United_States">5 ft 5 in</a> woman (<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6632829">women usually have less deep voices than men</a>) defeat the <a href="https://www.celebheights.com/s/Bernie-Sanders-52015.html">either 5 ft 10 in or 6 ft 0 in at his tallest</a> baritone voiced Bernard Sanders?<br />
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Why would any voter choose to support an establishment candidate who has been in Washington DC for decades? Perhaps it's because of her experience or the fact that her husband was President. But Hillary Clinton did <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2016_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries">receive 3,708,294 more votes (12.1 more percentage points) and 977 (out of 4707) more delegates</a> than Senator Sanders. Maybe if voters knew the contents of the Podesta emails, they would have voted differently.<br />
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<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/07/22/new-leak-top-dnc-official-wanted-to-use-bernie-sanderss-religious-beliefs-against-him/">But the email sent criticizing Sanders' atheism was sent in at 2016-05-05</a> when there were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2016_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries#May">only 1094 delegates and twelve primaries left</a> (three of these primaries were in Guam, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico - regions which do not cast electoral votes in the general election). Senator Sanders would need a <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=christmas%20miracle">Christmas Miracle</a> to catch up to Secretary Clinton - even if you exclude the superdelegates.<br />
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So even though the DNC acted improperly - there's not much of a case to be made that Sanders had a chance of winning in 2016. Yet the 'rigged' narrative persists, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/07/the-bernie-bros-are-out-in-full-force-harassing-female-reporters/">perhaps because so called 'Bernie Bros' have harassed reporters critical of Sanders.</a><br />
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But you can hardly blame voters for not having a nuanced understanding of the allocation of delegates during a long campaign where most of the media attention was focused on Donald Trump's extreme statements. Additionally<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/"> American student's test scores in mathematics are worse than those of children in many other comparable countries</a><br />
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Sanders <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/free-college-cancel-debt/">wants to cancel $1.6 trillion in student loans (and has many other generous plans for future students)</a> yet nothing on <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/reinvest-in-public-education/">his plan for K-12 education costs nearly that much.</a> It's almost like he cares more about educating people who might vote for him than the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/see-high-school-graduation-rates-by-state">15.4% of students who drop out of high school </a> or those who graduate unprepared or not wanting to go to college. Of course <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education/prek-12">Vermont has the 10th highest high school graduation rate in the USA</a> so maybe Bernie just isn't aware of how people outside Vermont live.<br />
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Sanders has deflected criticisms of self-characterization as a Democratic Socialist by pointing to the success of Scandinavian countries (<a href="https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/denmark-tells-bernie-sanders-to-stop-calling-it-socialist/">though he's inaccurate in his characterization of those countries</a>). Additionally <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Demographics">Norway's</a> demographics are relatively similar to <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/VT">Vermont's</a>, but those demographics are substantially different from the rest of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States">United States</a>.<span id="goog_749179033"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_749179034"></span><br />
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It was after his heart attack that I began to seriously question whether Bernie Sanders was leading a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality">cult of personality</a>. Do we really want to put somebody who believes it's a good idea for a 78 years old who recently had a heart attack in charge of a medical program <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/465894-new-study-full-scale-medicare-for-all-costs-32-trillion-over-10-years">which could cost $32 trillion over ten years</a>? Bernie Sanders only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/us/politics/faith-in-agency-clouded-bernie-sanderss-va-response.html">significant original legislation is a VA healthcare bill which preceded a major scandal.</a><br />
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I'm doubtful that Sanders most dedicated supporters will ever support a traditional Democratic Part Candidate. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-russian-effort-to-target-sanders-supporters--and-help-elect-trump/2019/04/11/741d7308-5576-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html">The Russian Internet Research Agency targeted Sanders supporters and discouraged them from voting for Hillary Clinton</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1218195021930926082?lang=en">President Trump tweeted "They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously."</a><br />
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At present Senator Sanders is considered by many to be the front runner. It's not quite clear to me what his supporters are thinking. Do they want to try to replace one populist outsider with another? He has a big vision of reducing inequality but <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00000528">in 2016 far he received $134,669,942 in small donations</a> and more recent <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/01/fueled-teachers-and-average-donation-18-sanders-raised-record-253-million-third">reports show teacher was the most common profession of donors, and Starbucks, Amazon, and Walmart were the most common employers of donors.</a><br />
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So far the Sanders campaigns have transferred money from the poor and middle class to <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/07/how-bernie-spent-his-millions-was-anything-but-revolutionary.html">media companies with limited transperency</a> (who obviously transferred some of that money to TV networks and facebook - the same big businesses Sanders criticizes). And he <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries#Campaign_finance">spent more than Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic Primary</a> He wasn't able to effectively transfer his supporters' financial contributions into convincing more people to support him.<br />
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Things could be different in 2020 - he could receive even more money from poor and middle class people and lose in the general election. Or he could win and fail to implement his policies. Or his policies might not work as well as his supporters hope and lead to a worse economy and more inequality.<br />
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So I urge Sanders supporters to consider the possibility that grandiose promises made by somebody with a weak track record and a short life expectancy can easily backfire.<br />
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Or else they may be giving Donald Trump a very Merry Christmas in 2020.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />(header image from </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/23/rush-limbaugh-sanders-16t-climate-change-plan-more/">https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/23/rush-limbaugh-sanders-16t-climate-change-plan-more/</a>)</span>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-5465448152304288122019-05-04T14:19:00.002-07:002019-05-04T14:21:57.073-07:00SOCRATES - A review of a play which captures a critical slice of historySocrates is a unique play driven by a series of philosophical monologues and limited dialog. Michael Stuhlbarg carries the play as the title character. He's like Robin Williams only slightly less funny and more intelligent. Teagle F. Bougere effectively narrates the story as Plato, though he doesn’t look like the statues of Plato his appearance offers a subtle hint to the connections between Greece and Egypt. Niall Cunningham is credited as 'A BOY' who is most likely Aristotle - I believe he serves as the audience's advocate by questioning Plato. Miriam A. Hyman rounds out the cast as Xanthippe's, Socrates wife and the only woman, and also the most rational critic of Socrates.<br /><br /><br />How historically accurate the play is is not entirely clear. Its author is Tim Blake Nelson who has an assortment of acting experience and a few credits in other positions. There is nothing which clearly contradicts the historical record, but given Socrates distrust of writing it is unclear how accurately he is being portrayed. It's not clear whether Socrates would even want a play to be written and performed about his life or to what degree Plato biases the narrative to fit his own theory of forms. <br /><br /><br />A debate between Aristotle and Plato begins the play and also sets its tone. People who are intellectually exhausted from a long day of work will have trouble keeping up with the complex ideas and debates but the emotions of the actors should be sufficient to entertain those who aren't academically inclined. There is no music - minimal props, costumes and action. Lighting and scenic effects are relatively minimal but used strategically at key points during the story.<br /><br /><br />Socrates is introduced by Alcibiades in a long speech where he lavishes praise on his virtues. Homophobic people should not see this play as there are explicit references to homosexuality. Throughout Alcibiades monologue, Socrates remains mainly silent and when he speaks he is humble.<br /><br /><br />As Socrates moves on, he becomes more philosophical. He is positioned between hero and villain, between serious and funny, and between sympathetic and annoying. The narrative structure of the play is somewhat confusing, the story shifts perspectives without giving explicit context. People without knowledge of Ancient Greece will be confused throughout the play. But that's almost appropriate, given that Socrates almost seems to be motivated by confusing people and making them less certain of themselves. Still, there are a few moments when Socrates is lucid and logical and explains himself and his philosophy clearly. One example is where he describes what shape and color are simply and concretely - though these descriptions are contradicted my modern science and mathematics.<br /><br /><br />Questions are at the heart of most interaction between characters. The audience is left to contemplate or find their own answers. I found Socrates description of his experiences in war edifying. Socrates is an example of somebody whose mental health was damaged by his experience in war. Perhaps his drive to question everything was developed from his questioning of the morality of his actions during a war he did not volunteer to fight in.<br /><br /><br />The intermission ends when the trial of Socrates begins. The second act is more tragic and somber than the first. It is structured such that the audience is in the same position as those who judged Socrates almost 2500 years ago. Unfortunately there is no opportunity to change history, the audience does not get to vote to acquit Socrates and they don't get to question him. The Athenian authorities are annoyed by Socrates possibly a good portion of the audience is as well.<br /><br /><div>
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After his trial, Socrates' friends visit him in jail. The criticisms of democracy offered by democracy may strike a chord with viewers upset with the current state of politics. After some end of life philosophizing Socrates attempts to justify his thoughts of suicide. By killing himself, Socrates believes he is maintaining the greatness of Athens. His friends seem resigned to his fate and only his wife seriously challenges him. Throughout the play, Socrates is able to mock and undermine his critics. None of the people who dislike Socrates are heroic. But Xanthippe's passion matches her reason as she condemns Socrates for not adequately caring for his children.<br /></div>
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Nevertheless, the play continues - depicting Socrates’ life to the last moment. This is where Michael Stuhlbarg establishes the depth of his acting skills. He captures the emotional turmoil of death more accurately than Hollywood movies would dare to try. An uncomfortable reminder as to the brutality of history and disregard for the idea of wisdom. An idea which is discussed but never fully fleshed out.<br /></div>
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Socrates is crazy paradoxical mess that laid framework to end polytheism in Western Society. The play ends on an optimistic note - a calming in the formerly contentious relationship between Plato and Aristotle. The relationship that astute intellectuals will note is the essential summary of Western Progress. Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great who overthrew the Persian Empire and set the stage for the expansion of Greek Culture throughout the Mediterranean and Asia. <br /></div>
robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-70589398343443120622017-08-27T06:36:00.002-07:002017-08-31T08:55:48.352-07:00Antifa, Paranoia and Preventive Strikes<br />
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In 1981 the Israeli Air Force bombed a nuclear reactor in Iraq which was purchased from France. Though Iraqi and French authorities claimed the reactor was for peaceful research, the Israeli authorities claimed that within a month the reactor could be weaponized. The attack was widely condemned throughout the world, including the UN and the USA. However in more recent years the air strike has been praised by prominent figures including Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney.<br />
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The 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States (also known as the Bush Doctrine) stated:<br />
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... The greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction – and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy’s attack. There are few greater threats than a terrorist attack with WMD.</div>
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To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively in exercising our inherent right of self-defense. The United States will not resort to force in all cases to preempt emerging threats. Our preference is that nonmilitary actions succeed. And no country should ever use preemption as a pretext for aggression.</div>
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This policy was used to justify the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Apparently Israel's air strike twenty-two years earlier was not enough to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing Weapons of Mass Destruction (though during that time frame, North Korea developed those weapons). Though the Iraq War had temporary victories, the instability within Iraq as well as Syria allowed for the formation of ISIS. Though Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, by most measures he was not as bad as the leaders of ISIS. Nonetheless, the preemptive or preventative strike remains a popular strategy for dealing with rogue nations.<br />
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The USA and Israel are not the only entities that perform surprise attacks based solely on the suspicion of wrong doing. The Axis powers of WWII launched surprise attacks on several neutral countries, most notably the attacks at Pearl Harbor. The victors of WWII occupied a moral high ground, they did not start the war but they won it. Yet decades later, they are employing the tactics of their former enemies.<br />
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Additionally, a small group within the USA have started launching surprise attacks domestically. The founder of the "alt-right" movement, Richard Spencer, has been punched by complete strangers twice. I've read arguments of progressive thinkers justifying these actions, frequently accompanied by pictures of Captain America punching Nazis (as if comic books were a source of enduring morality). It is worth noting that Spencer denies he is a Nazi, though his beliefs are clearly outside of mainstream USA political thought. Furthermore, the 1922 Beer Hall Putsch shows the resilience of Nazis to violence. Hitler and other Nazis attempted to overthrow the government of Bavaria, several of Hitler's followers were killed or injured and Hitler was imprisoned and wrote Mein Kampf... So what benefits should we expect from punching people who think similarly to Hitler?<br />
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Aside from individual surprise attacks, a disorganized group known primarily as 'Antifa' has come to disrupt events where they believe disagreeable views will be expressed. When conservative entertainer, Milo Yianopolis visited the University of California at Berkeley (the birthplace of the 1960s free speech movement) a number of masked protesters wearing black committed acts of mass vandalism. More recently during the Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' rally marchers who had Nazi and Confederate symbols were fought by the Antifa. In the Boston Free Speech Rally, they fought the police. It's worth noting that their violence is limited and so far I am not aware of any acts of murder or terrorism that they have committed.<br />
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Many people condemn the Antifa, but few try to understand them. It seems like they are trying to unite by fighting a common enemy. Fascism was briefly a popular ideology in Italy, and though it is connected to Naziism, the ideologies are not identical. Very few people today call themselves fascists, so Antifa is searching for an enemy that barely exists. They are hypersensitive to symbols, speech and behavior that are associated with right-wing ideologies. They are trying to prevent the rise of the forces that started WWII. But their strategy may be so ineffective that it creates sympathy for their enemies. It may be hard to understand why citizens of the USA would resort to violence against people who hold radically different political beliefs from them. But if you examine the foreign policy of the US in recent years, you'll see that it's not that different from Antifa tactics, it's just that the military of the USA has much more resources at its disposal than Antifa and the violence is directed primarily towards areas which display Islamic symbols, behavior and speech.<br />
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If we want to implement principle-based politics we have to understand what causes violence. If the solution to violence is more violence, we risk escalating conflicts and divisions. If the solution is forgiveness, we risk being ruled by those who accept forgiveness but do not give it. If the solution is dialog, then we need to assure those with extreme views that they won't be attacked simply for expressing them. So we need to understand why people feel it is acceptable to be violent towards those who express extreme beliefs. I believe that people who attack extremists usually do so because they are paranoid.<br />
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Paranoia is a thought process heavily influenced by anxiety and fear. Paranoid people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. A single paranoid person isn't necessarily dangerous, but groups of paranoid people who share a world view that places them as better than other people and justifies violence is dangerous. In practice, paranoia creates more paranoia. When we look at history in hindsight, there are some cases when paranoia was clearly justified. And their are patterns in history, but every year is distinct, in most cases paranoia is not rational. The only solution to the escalation of paranoia that I can think of is trust in humanity and a belief that humans are fundamentally the same and our differences are insignificant compared to our similarities.<br />
<br />robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com232tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-89850941709124272302015-06-24T08:21:00.001-07:002016-12-13T12:20:03.851-08:00Remembering Keshab GhimireI first met Keshab in my Introduction to Computer Science class in 2003 at Hamilton College. Almost all of the seats were full and he would usually arrive a few minutes after the lecture started and sit in the back. I asked him why he was always late he told me he had another class on the other side of campus. We were given ten minutes to get from class to class which should have been long enough, considering Hamilton had a physical education requirement (run 400 meters in less than 80 seconds, also swim four laps in a pool). I'm not sure Keshab ever managed to fulfill that requirement.<br />
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Keshab was clearly the brightest computer scientist in our class, an attribute my 18-year-old ego wanted. I was working on a project in the computer science lab, hoping to find some sort of adrenaline induced inspiration to finish the program before the rapidly approaching deadline. The teaching assistants were unable to help me, another student was there and said he'd call Keshab. I was slightly concerned, not just with my ego but also with the school's honor code. I was reassured that as long as we weren't using copy paste or looking at each other's monitors helping each other was acceptable. We waited for Keshab to arrive for about ten minutes, within five minutes of arriving he'd helped us solve our problem and explained to us why the solution worked.<br />
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I decided to take the next course towards a CS major, Data Structures. Our new class had only six students and was taught by the experienced and charismatic Professor 1. We worked together in two person teams building basic data structures in C++, after one team built a data structure another would test it. Though Keshab was still probably the brightest student there were two new students whose skills were impressive. I discovered my talent for mathematical computer science (I was able to determine the computational complexity of several algorithms immediately after Professor 1 wrote them). It was the best class I've taken throughout all my educational experience. Even though we were all freshmen, we won the Sam Welsch Memorial Prize Scholarship in Computer Science.<br />
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I saw Keshab more in my second semester. I had also befriended another student from his home country, Nepal. I didn't socialize with Keshab too much, but I would always talk with him when I saw him. He once told me that he did go out drinking with a fraternity, but after his parents called him when he was drunk, he followed their instructions to never drink again. Keshab had secured a research position for the summer working on electronics with a Professor from the physics department. I'd secured a research position with Professor 0, trying to use automated reasoning to find relations between genes and hopefully cure cancer. My old desktop computer broke down and I decided since I was going to be staring at a computer for eight hours a day in the summer I wasn't going to immediately replace it. Towards the end of the summer, after I finally decided on a laptop, I got in touch with Keshab for help installing Linux on it and recovering data from my old hard drive. I told him I'd drive him to the airport in exchange for his services. Afterwards I decided that I didn't want to (his flight was very late at night) but gave him information about a cab company as well as $60.00 to pay for it.<br />
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My next semester was horrible. I had decided to take five classes because I wasn't sure if I wanted to major in CS and Mathematics or double major in Neuroscience and Chemistry. I also decided to work for ITS as well as continuing research for Professor 0. I managed to enjoy some parties on campus and one night wandering around I ran into Keshab who gave me back the $60.00 I'd given him. Another time Keshab asked me if he could have the Linux CD I'd used back. When I told him I wasn't sure where it was he told me not to worry. In the midst of a stressful semester I received an email from the ITS employee listserv saying that Keshab was 'sick' and had gone back to Nepal. I never signed the card they sent him, I was too busy with my own problems.<br />
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I ended up taking a leave of absence midway through that semester. I returned to the snowy campus with a sense of practical cynicism. Aside from courses necessary for my CS major, I took Introduction to Hinduism. The most salient thing I learned in the class was that many Hindus don't believe in acquiring 'good karma' but in ending life with 'no karma'. Keshab and I shared a class and had lunch together occasionally. He complained that when he asked a Professor for help the Professor called him stupid. I discussed some of my business ideas with him, hoping that he'd help me implement some of them. He told me about how he'd been translating Nepali poetry into English. I knew his father worked for the Nepali government, but I did not know the tremendous upheaval Nepal was going through at that time. <br />
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Keshab managed to get a research position with Professor 0, I gave him some tips on how to deal with him, feeling that they'd get along well because Keshab had more patience with computers than I did. I had tried to find an internship with a high powered company (like Microsoft or Google) that summer, but failed. I managed to have a relatively relaxing summer. I visited my Dad in New Jersey, driving there and back for the first time on my own. I remember hearing the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckCwBAhz4oc">Right Back Where We Started From</a> on the radio just as I was reaching home. It was the first time I'd heard the song but by the end of it I was singing along to the chorus. It fit my feelings of returning to being half way through college with optimism that the second half would be better than the first. When I got home and checked my email, I saw that the President of the Hamilton College had sent an email with the title 'Keshab Ghimire'. I knew what happened before I opened it...<br />
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Keshab had killed himself. There was no suicide note but police ruled out foul play. I was devastated and considered seeing a grievance counselor but ultimately decided against it. I knew that the area was dominated by Christian Philosophy and that some of Keshab's suicide had to do with not embracing that philosophy. There was an <a href="http://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/hamilton-mourns-student-death">article</a> published on Hamilton's website... I never knew Keshab had worked with impoverished children until I read <a href="https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/utica-i-observer-dispatch-i-publishes-editorial-about-urban-service-project">this</a>. I still managed to enjoy myself at some moments during that summer. But I was worried about how Keshab's death would resonate with the college, particularly within the CS classes I would take. I had Professor 0 for a class and I knew I'd have to suppress my feelings that he was partly responsible for the suicide. Aside from demanding hard work and not taking excuses, Professor 0 had three bibles on his desk and was very open about being a Christian. I thought that he might take Keshab's suicide as motivation to be easier on his students and to put his bibles away but it wasn't.<br />
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Keshab's memorial service was about a month into the semester. I was more motivated to give a good speech than to comple any academic assignment I'd ever received (though Professor 0 did tell me that I did the best in the class for the first assignment). For some reason, it never occurred to me that Professor 0 would also speak and I only discovered that he would a few hours before the service. I thought about the recommendations I might need and how Professor 0 might not like some of what I had planned to say. I decided not to change anything.<br />
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I visited the college chaplain shortly before the service. He gave me some reassurance as well as a copy of the Bhagavad Gita which I planned to read from (though it was a different translation than the one I'd used in my class). I was scheduled to speak after one of Keshab's friends from another college and Professor 0. My emotions raced as I heard the other speakers (especially when Professor 0 spoke about how Keshab was a great computer scientist, glanced at me, then proceded to list Keshab's flaws). Shortly before I spoke I felt like some external force was squeezing on my brain and forcing tears out of it. I considered refusing to speak, or changing what I had originally written. I stood up and moved to the podium and looked out at the crowd for a while, hoping to see some sort of encouraging smile. Instead, the brown furniture turned into the outline of Keshab's face. The white faces became his teeth and the sclera of the eye of Keshab, the few darker people became his iris and pupil. I knew I was going to say exactly what I wanted to, regardless of what anybody in the audience thought.<br />
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I wish I could remember what I said; unfortunately it's all in the past now, I doubt anybody in that audience remembers it. I mentioned Keshab a few times to people who knew him, but nobody wanted to talk about suicide so I pushed his memory away. I suppose I could blame my less than stellar career as a programmer on Keshab's suicide, but that's a pretty lame excuse.<br />
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Why then, did I bother writing this? Is it because I'm a noble saint who reminds people of the forgotten and tries to extract feelings of guilt? Not really, I can't say I really knew why I wrote this until I'd already written everything besides the conclusion. I suppose I might get some sympathy from friends (or reconnect with people in college I haven't spoken with in years). Though ultimately, I think death is a major taboo in society that eludes rational thought. Atheists turn to religion when death occurs, empires have fallen after their leaders die, and sometimes leaders claim that certain dead people deserved to die. Many so called 'rationalists' turn to discredited ideas of freezing their brains and living forever. They forget that the world may not be around to wake them up and that this procedure costs more than what it costs to save multitudes of less fortunate people then. What then is the rational approach to death? I still don't know, but I have a much better idea than ten years ago when my friend decided to end his own life. robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-47048378925706964132014-10-24T08:14:00.002-07:002014-10-24T08:14:25.520-07:00Review of No Place To HideEdward Snowden's leak of NSA documents caused a great deal of controversy and shock, however I was not surprised. I always thought the NSA was spying on whomever it could. Glenn Greenwald's latest book, <i>No Place To Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S.</i> describes exactly how Snowden leaked his documents and what they mean. Greenwald makes no attempt to separate his personal views and experience from the NSA, Snowden or surveillance in general. As a reviewer, I will follow Greenwald's lead and inject my personal opinion into this review.<br />
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At less than 300 pages, the book didn't take me that long to read. However, there were only five chapters so I found my attention span stretched further than usual. The first chapter deals with how Snowden contacted Greenwald, Greenwald's reluctance and ignorance to indulge in cryptographic technologies, his discussions with a friend and how he dealt with The Guardian (the UK newspaper which he chose to initially publish the leaks to). The next chapter explains exactly how he met Snowden in Hong Kong and is full of praise for Snowden. The middle chapter contains many documents which show the extensive surveillance the NSA commits on US allies and US citizens and how US technology companies have allowed the NSA to do so. The penultimate chapter explains why surveillance is bad with some interesting rhetoric, including references to historical figures. The last chapter explains the problem with the state of journalism and why so many journalists have condemned Snowden and Greenwald. Lastly an epilogue explains the harassment that Greenwald's husband faced; having his computer stolen (in Brazil) and being detained after a flight (in the UK).<br />
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I appreciate the courage Glenn Greenwald has, but his book is far from perfect. I was slightly surprised it was published (after my research, I discovered the publisher is one of the oldest in the USA). I noticed several errors/typos: JKF airport (meaning JFK), 2012 Boston Marathon Bombing (it happened in 2013!) and image is used where imagine should be used. Perhaps the editors at Metropolitan Books were scared of the NSA and neglected to examine the book thoroughly. The book also demonstrates that while some people cannot explain Snowden's behavior without claiming he hates America or is working for China or Russia, others are willing to criticize the NSA. A bipartisan bill to defund the NSA was narrowly defeated in congress.<br />
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All of the controversial claims in <i>No Place To Hide</i> are substantiated by documents, Greenwald clearly establishes that the NSA collects massive amounts of information most of which is outside of its legally established mandates. He counters variations of the 'if you have nothing to hide, you don't need to worry about being watched argument' but does little to speculate on what harmful activities the NSA may be committing. Snowden was only a contractor for the NSA, so the information he had access to was limited. An astute reader may remember events that occurred amidst the 2008 Presidential Election which the NSA may have been involved in:<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_submarine_cable_disruption robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-12564567723588775982013-10-29T13:42:00.000-07:002013-10-29T13:42:10.619-07:00A review of Arkham Asylum: A serious house on serious earth Grant Morrison's classic comic arkham asylum: A <i>serious</i> house on <i>serious</i> earth is haunting, it could easily give you nightmares. Dave McKean's artwork drives the story, making the mysterious Arkham Asylum a real place. There are so many minor details in the artwork that the reader will either obsessively examine everything or be left fearing some subtle symbol has been left in their subconsciousness. Interspliced within the comic is the journal of Amadeus Arkham, who founded the Asylum but also suffered from insanity due to the death of his mother and daughter. Unlike most Batman comics, there isn't much action in arkham asylum. His sanity is tested as the inhabitants of the Asylum (including the doctor) suggest that he belongs with them. The reader is left turning page after page, wandering if some revelation about Batman and the Joker will explain the nature of insanity itself. robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-52198866139189560002013-10-10T09:02:00.002-07:002013-10-10T09:02:57.690-07:00Comic Book Review, Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader is one of my favorite tellings of the Batman story, but it shouldn't be read by people unfamiliar with Batman. I've tried reading some of Gaiman's other work and found it boring, this book shows that Gaiman is a good writer and able to bring advanced narrative techniques into comic books (though he must use other author's characters and plots to be entertaining). Due to the narration style, this review may contain what some readers consider to be spoilers.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The artwork is amazing, perhaps it's because Gaiman tells the story in such a way that each panel is sufficiently different from any other panel. Additionally the artwork changes to match the style of the stories being told. The title comic involves Batman's major enemies and ends in a way that will disappoint the most hardcore fans. There are four other, shorter stories in this collection. A Black and White World shows Batman and Joker as actors, complaining about the roles they've been playing for so long. Pavane tells the story of a psychiatrist who tries to understand Poison Ivy, though it appears he ends up going crazy in doing so. Based on the artwork, When is a Door appears to be a story entirely contained within Original Sins. Original Sins tells the story of a rich couple threatened by Batman whom decide to interview Batman's enemies in attempt to earn them the public's sympathy (this is the least original story in the collection, it's been done before). When is a Door gives a partial origins story for my favorite Batman villain, the Riddler, my only complaint is that it's not long enough.</span>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com101tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-89792778406355903292013-09-09T12:34:00.001-07:002013-09-13T13:30:47.692-07:00The 10 Principles of Burning Man Analyzed<div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 2013 Burning Man is over, participants have returned home to continue their normal lives. They will return with new experiences and ideas, and they'll change in ways they can't quite explain to their non-burner friends. Part of Burning Man's appeal is that it eludes formal description and is best understood by direct experience.</span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-1cc785a7-0420-3ff2-6cc9-78f60d1769c9" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The intentions which provide the theoretical foundations of Burning Man (and all other Burning Man regional events) are the 10 principles. As with Christians and the 10 commandments, most burners haven't memorized the 10 principles and will probably violate some of them. Unfortunately, the 10 principles come into conflict with one another, aren’t implemented perfectly or lead to undesirable outcomes. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">THE 10 PRINCIPLES</span></b></span></h3>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Radical Inclusion</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burning Man is more inclusive than most places, but it's not perfectly inclusive. The city is divided into camps of people who typically know each other before the event starts, you cannot expect to receive anything from camps you don't belong to. Realistically, you need to spend at least a thousand dollars and take a week off to attend, so poor people are excluded by default. The demographics of Burning Man show that groups (many of which have been excluded throughout history) are drastically underrepresented. A slight majority of Burning Man attendees are male, and an overwhelming majority are white. The most successfully included group are LGBQT people, they are overrepresented at Burning Man. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gifting</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getting gifts is great, and it's not hard to get gifts from strangers at Burning Man. But you won't necessarily want the gifts you're given, and other people won't necessarily want what you give them. Many participants put little or no effort into giving gifts and many gifts end up being trashed. Other gifts (mainly services like massages) are so popular that long lines to receive them. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Decommodification</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is no money, stores, banks or stock exchanges at Burning Man. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Normal economic transactions (besides purchasing ice and coffee) do not occur. Large amounts of unique art is created for Burning Man. While Burning Man does succeed in preventing the creation of large numbers of identical products, there exist many services that commidify the Burning Man experience. You can buy your way into camps which will provide you with everything you need without any participation on your part.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Radical Self-reliance</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To a degree, this principle serves the interest of the owners of Burning Man (Black Rock City, LLC). The less people rely on BRC, the easier it is for the company to make large profits. Inner resources are of limited use if you're getting dehydrated. Still, burners do usually leave the event stronger and less dependent on others.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">Radical Self-expression</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The description of this principle isn't entirely clear. Gifting is a principle, but here BRC is claiming expressing yourself is a gift to others. You will see forms of expression at Burning Man you won't see anywhere else. You'll probably receive compliments on your form of expression, no matter how strange it is. But if Radical Inclusion and Radical Self-expression were both implemented perfectly, Burning Man would be a hotbed of conflict.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Communal Effort</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Building a city from scratch requires lots of work, and most of that work is done communally. But Burning Man is composed of tribes that usually don't work together. Large scale Communal Effort does occur, but it's mostly on dance floors or small projects, the big projects are mainly composed by tribes which aren't always Radically Inclusive.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Civic Responsibility</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This principle also enables BRC to make more money. Roads, Port-a-Potties, police force and medical care are all provided by BRC or volunteers. Beyond this, it’s not clear what level of civic responsibility is useful, especially if people are Radically Self-Reliant.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leaving No Trace</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At a glance, BRC succeeds at this principle tremendously. But upon further inspection, this principle (and its alleged concern with the environment) is flawed and likely only exists because of a deal that BRC made with the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) in exchange for access to the land where Burning Man occurs. The Black Rock Desert contains almost no life, if Burning Man didn’t exist it would be a good candidate for a toxic waste dump. BRC’s is more concerned with clearing biodegradable matter from the desert than discouraging its attendees from bringing gas guzzling Recreational Vehicles from the event. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">Participation</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The amount of effort people put into Burning Man is amazing, but it’s not equally distributed amongst all participants. The camps which have a track record of participation are in the center of the city. So new camps on the outskirts will have a hard time finding an audience to participate with, and their members will likely spend most of their time participating in other people's projects.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Immediacy</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This principle is the hardest to understand. Long term planning is necessary for a successful burn. The man takes hundreds of people months to build and it is almost completely incinerated within half an hour. When participants return to reality, they won’t remember the many hours they spent preparing or even most of the time they spent on the playa. They’ll remember the short serendipitous moments </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though my analysis of the 10 Principles may seem harsh, it should not be taken as a condemnation of Burning Man itself. The event existed before the principles and it's not clear how the Principles have impacted the event. Sometimes codifying a ritual ruins the ritual. It's important for Burning Man participants not to take the Principles too literally or to follow one principle at the expense of another. Ultimately, the Burning Man experience is created by the attendees, not the administrators. Participants should feel free to make their own principles and express and justify them to other participants.</span></div>
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robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-82421986536104790002013-04-01T12:21:00.002-07:002013-04-01T12:21:35.333-07:00What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7851239719893783" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7851239719893783" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently finished reading The World Until Yesterday:</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Jared Diamond. Before writing this review I looked for reviews of his books and was surprised at all the controversy he has generated. Most reviewers of this book have given undue attention to Diamond's previous work and don't cover much of the content in his most recent work.</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7851239719893783" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can understand why Diamond generates so much controversy, he makes bold claims and doesn't give them adequate support. He does reference many works in his book, but the book is dominated by stories of his own personal experience and things his friends have told him. Of course, Diamond doesn't claim to be a scientist, his books are non-fiction but that's not to say that everything in them is 100% accurate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If The World Until Yesterday were a fictional book, it would be entertaining and spark the imagination of whoever read it. But it's not, so we have to question Diamond's conclusions with a healthy degree of skepticism. Clearly the New Guinean people are culturally different from most people who speak English (and most people who speak the thousands of language not spoken in New Guinea), and language is just one of the barriers of communication between different cultures. Diamond claims to have an understanding of New Guinean culture, but it's not clear that he does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diamond's claims are difficult to disprove. It's pretty clear that they have a negative effect on the New Guinean tourism industry. His claims about cannibalism in New Guinea aren't that different from the claims that the Natives of the Carribean were cannibals. There is no concrete evidence of either. So while Diamond does inform people of cultural differences, this information isn't 100% accurate and the reader of The World Until Yesterday can't tell what parts are inaccurate without doing some research on their own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One could interpret Diamond's motives in writing very cynically. You could say he's profiting from telling lies about cultures that have been oppressed. That he's an agent of Christian, Western, and Corporate Imperialism. He is critical of some Western cultural practices but he makes it clear that he prefers living in Los Angeles to New Guinea. He may be informing people who are extremely ignorant about culture, but he's not enabling Westerners to appreciate New Guinean culture the same way that Westerners appreciate Chinese and other Eastern cultures. He's just giving people a model of culture that is less wrong than models created by imperialists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's worth noting that Diamond is a victim of the same phenomena he is creating with his books. He's descended from Eastern European jews who had the foresight to come to the USA before the Holocaust. When Diamond was growing up, people were misinformed about jews and judaism, even in the USA. Diamond has escaped many of the stereotypes jews have suffered from over the course of his life, but he's created a new set of stereotypes for another group of people.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-59328643663151925562013-01-19T11:47:00.001-08:002013-01-19T11:47:46.632-08:00Christianity and CapitalismChristianity and Capitalism are two of the defining characteristics of Western Society. In recent years, some have cast doubt on the morality of both. But the two systems are intertwined, the Republican Party of the US is more capitalist and christian than the Democratic Party. Likewise, the US is more capitalist and christian than Europe. So there's a positive relationship between the two ideologies, where you find one you often find the other. Is that relationship a natural and logical one, or is it one forged for practical gain of the leaders of the ideologies?<br />
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"The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again,'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.'”<br />
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Mark 10:24<br />
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"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all of them who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."<br />
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Matthew 21: 12-13
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"When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."<br />
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Luke 14:12-14<br />
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"If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks."<br />
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Deuteronomy 15:7<br />
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So what's the incentive for a christian to become rich? If he does, he'll have to share his money with the poor and then he'll go to hell anyways. While some Christians want to end the separation of church and state, Jesus makes it pretty clear that he doesn't want any sort of capitalist practices in his church.<br />
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A few bible passages don't fully explain Christianity, there are many Christians organizations who interpret the bible and instruct the faithful. In 325 christian leaders met in Nicaea to discuss theological issues, they prohibited usury (lending money at interest) among the clergy. In 1311 Pope Clement V banned usury and declared all legislation which allowed for usury invalid. It wasn't until the Protestant Reformation that certain christian churches began to allow for usury, but even in 1776 the secular free market enthusiast Adam Smith advocated an interest rate ceiling, limiting the profitability of loaning banks. If a rich christian wants to avoid hell, he can give his money away or loan it, at no interest. But loans are essential to a growing economy, if money can't be loaned then the rich have little incentive to lend it.<br />
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The Parable of the talents is clearly applicable to economics. In it, a master travels far away but entrusts his servants with talents (large amounts of money) while he's gone. When he returns, the servant who he gave five talents has used the money to make another five talents, the servant he gave two talents has made another two talents, but the servant who was only given one talent hasn't made any money at all. So the master confiscates his talent, gives it to the servant with ten talents, banishes the third servant and says:<br />
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"For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away"<br />
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Matthew 25:29<br />
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This parable isn't straightforward to interpret, religious scholars don't all agree about what it means. The master gives money to his servants, he doesn't charge interest but the servant whom doesn't invest the money has his money given to the servant who does. Perhaps Jesus told it to encourage people with money to spend it on productive ventures. Banishing a servant simply because he returns the money you gave him and doesn't double it like the other servants have seems unfair. If lending money at interest is wrong, then why should you expect interest when you give somebody a gift? Perhaps Jesus told the story as an example of why a rich man is unlikely to go into heaven, he completely avoids his responsibility to the poor. Or perhaps the lesson isn't moral, but practical, the rich become richer, the strong become stronger and the powerful become more powerful, this is just a fact of life. Whatever the message, of all the bible passages listed, this is the most pro-capitalist. The master in the story rewards the servants who spend and punish those who save which sounds like demand supply economics (not the supply side economics Ronald Reagan favored). Yet it advocates taking from the poor to give to the rich, which is not something that most secular proponents of capitalism believe in.<br />
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So why do christians support a system that gives a disproportionately large share of money to the top 1%? There's the cynical explanation that the church is in cahoots with the rich and spreads information to keep the poor poor. It is hard for a poor person to become rich if he follows christian morality. First, he can't get a loan. Second, he has an obligation to help the poor. Third, his money can be taken away from him and given to the rich. On the other hand, it's pretty easy for a rich person to stay rich, or even become richer, according to the parable of the talents he should be given wealth, even if he does nothing to earn it. The middle class (like the second servant in the parable), get a decent deal under christian morality.<br />
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Maybe christians are in favor of capitalism because it is the opposite of communism, an economic system which demands the destruction of religion. In a communistic system, the state helps the poor and there are no rich. In most capitalist systems, there are a few rich (and if the parable of talents is followed, much of their wealth comes from the poor) who will probably go to hell. But christianity doesn't decry middle class people or small business owners, so the people between poor and rich can lead good lives, and they are encouraged to make the lives of the poorest better. If you believe in heaven, the christian system is similar to reincarnation. The rich who enjoy life on earth the most are reincarnated in hell. People who don't manage to acquire massive sums of wealth and give what little they have to those poorer than themselves are reincarnated in heaven.<br />
<br />robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-58927486588284005732012-10-21T15:33:00.003-07:002012-11-24T20:13:06.452-08:00What's the deal with Apple Computers?I recently received a Macbook Air from my new job. I started using my first Mac when I was in diapers but I haven't owned one since I was 14 (incidentally this time period roughly coincides with Steve Job's period away from Apple). Since becoming a Windows (and later Ubuntu Linux) user I had developed a minor disapproval for Apple Computers as well as their business model, since using my new Mac I've had some new thoughts on what makes Apple so distinct.<br />
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Most customers have some brand loyalty toward the products they buy, Apple is an example of a company that inspires fierce brand loyalty in its customers. Apple consumers are so loyal that they are willing to spend more for Apple products than comparable non-Apple products, PC World Magazine <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/161700/apple.html">estimates the cost between equivalent PC and Mac computers to be between $300 and $500</a>. <br />
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Apple products are well designed, innovative and all work well together. But unlike most other products, it can be hard to switch from Apple to another brand. I've spoken with many Mac/iPhone users who feel that they couldn't adequately learn to use a new system and thus can't switch to a new device. Most people manage to transition to using Apple products without much trouble, so it seems as if Apple usage can only grow, perhaps justifying the company's impressive stock price.<br />
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At a fundamental level, there isn't a difference between Mac computer and other computers (or between iPads, iPhones and iPods and all the other phones, mp3 players and tablets/ereaders). All these devices have ways of displaying information, input devices to receive information and ways of computing information. The screens, keypads/touchpads, and operating systems make the devices look and feel different, but below the surface, where the actual computing occurs they are about as similar as Pepsi and Coke. So, why are Apple users willing to pay so much more for their devices?<br />
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Henry Ford is alleged to have said that his customers could have a car in any color they wanted as long as it was black, which was efficient because black paint dries faster than any other color. So Ford saved some money in producing his cars, but since customers are willing to pay extra for products that look good and are easy to use probably lost money by denying customers a choice in color. Manual transmission have many advantages over automatic transmissions: they cost less, they generally get better gas mileage, they are easier to fix and they give the driver more control over the vehicle. Despite these advantages, manual transmissions are being produced less and less within the US and may eventually only be available on sports cars or large trucks. The reason why is clear, they are harder to use than automatics. It's not incredibly hard to drive a manual, in some areas outside of the US the majority of cars are manuals. In most of those countries, cars are more of a luxury. The suggestion the history of car user interfaces suggests for the future of computers is a trend towards computers which are easier to use at the expense of efficiency and affordability. So the important question isn't why are Apple consumers paying for more for their computer but why aren't Apple's competitors using Mac OS and paying more attention to the design and usability of their computers?<br />
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Mac products exist within what technologists call a walled garden, Apple controls the interactions between Mac products and third party software and hardware. This explains why their software is generally of better quality (but also why much software, some of it very useful isn't available for Macs). Additionally, this policy is partly why viruses infect Windows machines more than Macs (which is suggested by the sterile appearance and hospital-white color of Apple products). <br />
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Microsoft took a different approach to distributing its software than Apple did, there are limitations to how third party software and hardware can interact with Windows and Microsoft products, but these limitations are not nearly as stringent as Apple's. Microsoft made a large effort to make all computer hardware compatible with its operating system, in doing so it almost became a complete monopoly but it allowed businesses to exchange information without having to worry about different data formats. Microsoft applied same philosophy to software, it's relatively easy for a software developer to create a product which windows user can download and use (though some of these products will be viruses). Though some form of the windows operating system is on about 90% of computers (and it is possible to install Windows on a Macintosh computer), Microsoft doesn't manufacture any of the computers that use its software. <br />
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Apple manufactures both software and hardware and instead of trying to get its software onto other manufacturers hardware it actively prevents them from doing so. Their goal is to have 100% of computers running the Mac OS to be manufactured by Apple. Independent individuals create 'Hackintoshes' with regular hardware and the Mac OS to avoid paying the $300-$500 premium, but when Psystar (a Miami based computer company) tried to sell Mac OS on computers they'd manufactured themselves, Apple filed a legal injunction preventing them from doing so. Apple's walled garden policy has also led to their devices having cables which are different from the standardized PC cables (and naturally cost more).<br />
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Mac products are better designed and it is easier to use them for elementary tasks, but in a world where digital literacy is increasingly important, Apple is doing a disservice to its customers. When I got my first Windows machine, I spent a lot of time figuring out how it worked, there were some things that I couldn't initially figure out how to do but I persevered and learned lessons about how my machine worked. Discovering how to use a computer is a frustrating yet educational process, but Apple's walled garden policy prevents users from understanding much of how their device works. Linux/Unix machines are even more frustrating and educational than Windows machines, but since their source code is openly available, you can modify them to your heart's desire and distribute your modifications to whoever you want (you need to be computer savvy to do so). The flexibility of Unix led Steve Jobs to use the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) branch of it to recreate the Mac OS, by adding aesthetically pleasing design he was able to charge costumers for what they could get for free. <br />
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Since I've used my Macbook Air for a while, the initial appeal has worn off I've had several complaints about its design:<br />
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<li>the sharp edges of the computer give me wrist pains as I type</li>
<li>whenever I alter the volume I hear an annoying beep, interrupting whatever I'm listening to</li>
<li> the lack of a screen protector has left dust on my monitor that I can't clean easily with my finger </li>
<li>the white body of my computer makes the minor specks of dust much more visible</li>
<li>the lack of the traditional pg up, pg dn, home and end keys make navigating documents harder</li>
<li> the lack of a delete and backspace key makes editing mistakes slightly less convenient(Macs just have delete, which does what backspace does on PCs, the delete function should let you remove characters to the right of your cursor rather than the left)</li>
<li>The single button mouse prevents me from doing what I could do on another system </li>
<li>The scrollbar isn't always visible. </li>
<li>There's no easy way to see all the programs I have without opening a new program (Mission Control)</li>
<li>There's no CD/DVD drive so I can't play movies or install certain software</li>
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So the race to design a perfect user interface for a computer isn't over just yet. Apple may be in the lead, but there's still a long way to the finish line and it Apple's competitors would realize the importance of design and take some risks and deviate from the standard black box-like machine running Windows, they might become even more successful than Apple.</div>
robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-86638974748999809192011-09-11T09:05:00.000-07:002017-09-11T03:52:30.843-07:00My thoughts on the tenth Anniversary of 9/11Today marks the 10th anniversary of the one of the deadliest attacks in US History. This event triggered a huge reaction not just in America but the rest of the world. In all likelihood, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya as well as the entire Arab Spring wouldn't have happened without 9/11. Even the global recession would have unfolded differently or not happened if the World Trade Centers hadn't fallen...<br />
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It isn't clear to me how we should commemorate this anniversary. Some of us might feel like waving flags and talking about how great the USA is. But is America better off today than it was before 9/11? I don't think so. Not only did the attacks weaken us, but so did our response to the attacks. I think Americans need to ask themselves: What we could have done differently between 9/11/01 and today, what mistakes have been made in the last ten years have made us worse off?</div>
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The wars that this country has entered in the past ten years have been huge mistakes. The people that were so confident that Hussein had WMDs and that fighting the Iraq war would be easy and inexpensive have been proven wrong. There is no connection between Libya or Iraq to the 9/11 attacks and when we finally found Bin Ladin he was in Pakistan. Politicians have used 9/11 and the fear of another terrorist attack to drum up support for unrelated conflicts. We have little to gain from winning any of the three wars we're in, and it's not clear what exactly our victory conditions are (except perhaps in Libya, but who knows what will happen to that country when its ruler of 40 years is deposed or assassinated). We've lost more military personnel in these conflicts than we lost citizens in 9/11, not to mention all the non-Americans who've died. These wars are unpopular among US citizens and especially unpopular with citizens of other countries. Yet we continue them because we think that somehow fighting and killing will lead to a better outcome. </div>
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As a country, we can't admit when we're wrong. If we were the dominant superpower, that strategy might be viable, but with Europe uniting, China rising and the economic growth of most of the so called "third world" exceeding that of the "developed world" the US cannot expect to grow in international power and prestige if we remain so stupidly stubborn.</div>
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Americans have also lost a lot of civil liberties in the past ten years. I know it's cliche, but I feel obliged to use the Benjamin Franklin quote: <br />
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." </div>
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Now we're harassed more at airports, can have our telephones conversations eavesdropped upon and many of the liberties established by the US Constitution have been limited. Of course, defenders of the Patriot Act and similar legislation would probably point out that there hasn't been an attack on the US in ten years, and claim that's evidence that these measures are working; they might also claim that unless you are hiding something you have nothing to fear from a loss of civil liberties. I find those claims to be naive for the following reasons:</div>
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1) There have been plenty of attacks against the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why would these terrorists go all the way to the USA to kill innocents when they can kill US soldiers and contractors without being racially profiled on the plane flight? This isn't to say I believe that these wars are a deterrent for terrorists, but that these wars make it easier for terrorists to harm Americans.</div>
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2) There have been attacks in Europe, India, Pakistan, throughout the Middle East, Russia and Indonesia. It's not clear to me that this is because these places have an abundance of civil liberties.</div>
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3) The intelligence community had the ability to violate various civil liberties in the name of national security before 9/11/01 yet they failed to prevent the attacks. Why should we give up more civil liberties for security when doing so in past hasn't worked?</div>
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4) Osama had specifically stated that the attacks occurred because of the US support for Israel, its intervention in Lebanon and the US military presence in Islamic holy land. I'm not suggesting that we start taking orders from our enemies, but I do believe we should listen to our enemies. I believe rescinding support from Israel and withdrawing US troops from the Middle East would be a small price to pay if it ensured that the War on Terror would end.</div>
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The World Trade Towers were filled with the same bankers that would cause the economic crash and demanded a bailout. Can anybody honestly say that justice wouldn't have been served if Bernie Madoff died in 9/11? While many innocent Americans died on 9/11, many of the bankers and soldiers who died were guilty of causing damage to the world. This isn't an attempt to justify the attacks, but we should at least be aware that the purpose of these attacks was not simply to kill innocents. We should try to make sure that when we fight our enemy, we use more ethical tactics and harm less innocents or else they (as well as the rest of the observing world) will feel justified in killing innocents when they fight us.</div>
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I think in order to win or achieve honorable peace in this War on Terror, we need to understand the perspective of our enemies. Some would like to portray them as sociopaths who are beyond understanding, but I don't think that's true. I think our enemies are more like ourselves than we realize. Our enemies have the same desire for world domination as us. It's true that withdrawing for our wars and changing our policies may cause our enemies to perceive us as weak and attack us again. But it's also true that our enemies aren't fully united, if they don't perceive the USA as a threat to them, they will begin seeing each other as enemies and fight amongst each other. </div>
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So to commemorate 9/11 we should remember what America and the world were like before the horrible event happened. We should try to restore the more peaceful world that we had on 9/10/01. Americans should acknowledge and respect those that died on this tragic day, but also show concern for those that have died in our misguided and vengeful wars in the last ten years.</div>
robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-39875132773520274582011-04-05T18:35:00.000-07:002011-04-05T18:35:34.322-07:00New Statesman - Assange: "WikiLeaks is the intelligence agency of the people"<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/04/assange-wikileaks-radical">New Statesman - Assange: "WikiLeaks is the intelligence agency of the people"</a>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-66358549451156925802010-12-07T15:58:00.001-08:002010-12-07T15:58:58.675-08:00My informal opinion on Wikileaks and Julian Assange<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Would like to write something about the wikileaks fiasco, but lacks time and fears that when he has time, the story will no longer be in the media, so I'll write a short summary.<br /><br />Julian Assange mediated the release of documents of powerful organizations. These documents reveal things which have made those institutions seem less credible. He's in jail for having consensual sex where a condom broke (but Dick Cheney shoots someone in the face and walks free).<br /><br />How does this make sense?<br /><br />Julian Assange may be a criminal for releasing confidential information, but I'm not going to moralize and I'm not a legal expert, but I don't want to see him go to jail. This is because I'd like to know what all these huge organizations are hiding.</span>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-54439717221420695282010-08-03T14:16:00.000-07:002010-08-09T16:43:04.271-07:00Was Alexander Hamilton Black?<div>(Originally published 2.23.07 in the Hamilton College Spectator.) </div><div><br /> In honor of Black History Month, I've decided to examine the evidence that our college's namesake was partially of African descent. I have searched the internet and received help and perspective from Professor Ambrose, Professor Rubino and John Guilbert, Executive Director, Nevis Historical & Conservation Society. I'll examine the ramifications of discrediting the assumption that Hamilton was European. Despite a biblical passage to the contrary, Jesus is often illustrated as Northern European. Cleopatra (from Egypt) was portrayed by the English born Elizabeth Taylor. Non-European figures have been "whitened" before. Below, I'll give a brief biography of Alexander Hamilton, focusing on the evidence that he may have had "black blood".<br /><br /> Hamilton was born as the illegitimate son of Rachel Fawcett Lavien on a Carribean island the size of the town of Kirkland called Nevis. His mother was divorced for infidelity long before Hamilton was born, casting question onto Hamilton's father. Some claim that it was James Hamilton, the man who lived with Rachel. Others claim it was Nicolas Cruger, a Carribean merchant with connections in New York who employed an eleven year old Alexander Hamilton after his alleged father left him and his mother died. Some claim that Hamilton's mother had affairs with her slaves. Additionally, many claim that Hamilton's mother was herself part black, newspapers record Hamilton being called a mustee (implying his mother was a quarter black) by political enemies. At fourteen, Hamilton was running Cruger's business. After attending a prep school in New Jersey and applying to an advanced program at Princeton, he was turned down only after an in person interview. At seventeen he began attending what would become Colombia University, only to drop out two years later to fight in the Revolutionary War. At twenty Hamilton was appointed lieutenant colonel and became very close with George Washington. After practicing law for a short period after the war was over, Hamilton became extremely instrumental in the ratification of the Constitution by writing most of the Federalist Papers and formed the Federalist party. Hamilton was perhaps the staunchest abolitionist of his time. He argued blacks were mentally equal to whites and that slaves could be competent soldiers. He supported the black led government in Haiti who overthrew the French. At thirty-two Hamilton was named the first Secretary of the treasury by Washington. After resigning due to a scandal, Hamilton became more involved in political rivalries that would eventually result in his death. John Adams called Hamilton a "creole bastard" and Abigail Adams who said "[Hamilton] was a vain, ambitious man aspiring to govern when it was his duty to submit". Hamilton received much criticism despite being so important in the foundation of this country. Hamilton's life was ended in 1804 by Aaron Burr, who received no punishment.<br /><br /> That's about all the evidence I could find. I imagine some people are convinced that Hamilton was black. Others may think I've offered little or no evidence at all. Remember, there's no proof that Hamilton was white. Nobody knows what race Hamilton, his political critics probably didn't and it's possible that Hamilton himself was never sure. Certainty could only be determined by a genetic test. Some people might argue that Hamilton's race doesn't matter. Clearly, race meant something during Hamilton's time. But even today people of try to accumulate long lists of great individuals of their own race so they can feel proud of their race, or sometimes so they can feel superior to other races. So Hamilton's race remains an uncertainty that is important for people.<br /><br /> What is certain is that Hamilton's achievements were important and affect us today. That he was born a soon to be orphaned bastard on a tiny island makes his life more incredible. So does the fact that he was brutally criticized, perhaps simply for being an outsider (all the important founding fathers were born in America) or perhaps because of his race. He was an important military, political and economic figure, he was one of the few who advocated treating an unfavorably viewed group as the equals. His struggle and achievements are similar and important to millions of African-Americans, regardless of whether he was of African descent. If anybody is looking for a person of African descent who was accepted among whites before abolition, I'd recommend investigating Benjamin Scott Moncrieffe who served as the treasurer of a colonial church union.<br /><br /> All of this begs the questions, why do we need African-American heroes to be African, and why do we need a Black History Month at all? Certainly blacks have faced terrible discrimination, but so have plenty of other groups. There wouldn't be enough months in the calendar to accommodate every group. How about we use the month of February to confront and eliminate our own prejudices so we can honestly say things like the race of Alexander Hamilton, or any other individual, doesn't mean anything.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com198tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69082032200384579.post-23463003179411767792009-07-01T11:17:00.000-07:002009-07-01T17:53:07.732-07:00Why we mourn for Michael JacksonIt's been about a week since Michael Jackson died, the media frenzy has calmed down some, but he's still in the news. My usual attitude is that the world (and especially America's) obsession with celebrities is a detrimental and that our attention should be fixed on more important issues. For example, I really didn't care about when Heath Ledger died and I don't care about what is happening to Britney Spears. I'd much rather that the attention we give those celebrities be focused on something else, like the economy. But Michael was different.<br /><br />It's hard for me to comprehend how prodigious Michael was. This is partly because his career was on a major decline for over a decade. His popularity started long before I was born and peaked when I was very young. I remember waiting in anticipation for his videos and listening to <span style="font-style: italic;">Thriller</span> over and over on my mom's old record player. I remember talking about <span style="font-style: italic;">Black or White</span> at school in the first grade. I remember when <span style="font-style: italic;">Dangerous</span> came out and waiting for another set of videos. And I remember being confused about the child molestation accusations, that had a lot to do with the loss of my infatuation with Jackson, but I think it hurt Jackson a lot more than me, I think it made it harder for him to make music.<br /><br />I've done a bit of research on both child molestation cases, and I don't think Jackson is guilty. I won't go into all the details but here are a few points:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Trial<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>The case was brought by a dentist who was $68,400<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span> </span>behind in child support payments. He was jealous of the relationship that Michael Jackson had with his 13 year old son and extracted a confession by using a controversial drug. His ex-wife told police she did not believe her son was molested. Other children who were friends of Jackson were questioned and none of them reported inappropriate behavior. After the trial, several people who worked for Jackson sold false stories to media tabloids. Jackson eventually settled out of court because he was under a tremendous amount of stress.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Case<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>The accuser went to the same lawyer who served in the previous case before going to the police. The DA opened a website encouraging anyone who had been abused by Jackson to come forward, nobody did. In 1998 the accuser had stolen clothes from JC Penny, claimed that she had been beaten by the security officers and tried to sue for three million. Two years after that she claimed her breasts had been fondled and settled out of court for 137,000 (and never was punished for stealing clothes).<br /><br />This is by no means conclusive proof that Jackson is innocent, but there really isn't much proof he is guilty either, just the words of two kids (though many more say Jackson never did anything inappropriate).<br /><br />However, there is one person we know was abused as a child, Michael Jackson. He was poor and beaten and never given a chance to lead a normal childhood, if he did abuse the children, it was only abuse begetting abuse.<br /><br />Aside from being a phenomenal singer and dancer, Michael Jackson pioneered the music video away from simple shots of the band playing or shots about the song's subject matter into actual stories. His music videos grabbed your attention for the full 8-20 minutes, they weren't just some random strung together images tangentially related to the song, they were the song. Nobody has come close to making videos like Jackson has. Along with the artistic merit Jackson added actual meaningful messages to his songs, especially towards the end of his career. Songs like <span style="font-style: italic;">Smooth Criminal</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Bad </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Beat it </span>deal with crime and gang violence<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span></span>Songs like <span style="font-style: italic;">Man In The Mirror</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">You Are Not Alone</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">They Don't Really Care About Us</span> deal with introspection and societal problems.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Michael Jackson gave millions of dollars to charities and was personal friends with many children (besides the ones who sued him).<br /><br />What did he get for all of this? He was treated like a freak, the constant target of jokes by people like Jay Leno, the subject of negative media inquiry. A lonely man who was too busy mastering music and dealing with legal and medical problems to grow up, and now only after his death are we appreciating him. It's sad that somebody who was doing so much in his 20s and 30s faded so far from glory and died at a relatively young age. I always wished he would make some sort of a comeback, even though I didn't know how...<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span><br /><br /><iframe id="AnswersBalloonIframe" src="javascript:;" style="border: medium none ; z-index: 99998; position: absolute; width: 490px; height: 306px; visibility: hidden; background-color: transparent; top: 447px; left: 178px; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"></iframe><div style="width: 490px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; z-index: 99999; text-align: left; top: 423px; left: 178px;" id="AnswersBalloon"><div id="AnswerTipHook" style="background-image: url(http://www.answers.com/main/images/hook-topL.gif); width: 67px; height: 24px; margin-left: 25px; position: relative; top: 10px;"></div><div class="AnswersHeader"><div class="AnswersHeaderInner" id="AnswersHandle0" style="cursor: move;" handlefor="AnswersBalloon"><div class="AnswersHeader1"><a style="float: right;" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='close'; else window.status='close'; return true;"><img id="AnswersCloseImage" style="margin-right: 10px; position: relative; cursor: pointer;" alt="Close" src="http://www.answers.com/main/images/close.gif" align="top" border="0" /></a><a id="AnswertipMore" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='close'; else window.status='close';return true;" style="float: right; text-decoration: none; visibility: hidden; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 9px; cursor: pointer;"><span class="AnswersHeader3"> Read more >> </span></a><a id="AnswertipOptions" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='options'; else window.status='options';return true;" style="float: right; text-decoration: none; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 9px; cursor: pointer;"><span class="AnswersHeader3"> Options >> </span></a></div><div><a style="float: left; cursor: pointer;" href="http://www.answers.com/?initiator=FFANS"><img id="AnswersLogoImage" style="" alt="Visit Answers.com" src="http://www.answers.com/main/images/answers-logo.gif" align="top" border="0" /></a></div></div><div id="Answers_frame" class="AnswersContentFrame"><table id="Balloontable2" class="donotmoveme" style="width: 480px; float: left;"><tbody><tr><td> <div id="Answertip" style="overflow: hidden; height: 235px; width: 473px;"></div> <div id="answertipClose" style="display: none;"></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="AnswersFooter" id="Answers_footer"><div style="width: 471px; height: 22px; float: left;"><iframe id="AnswersAds" allowtransparency="true" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; width: 100%; height: 22px;" src="http://www.answers.com/main/tip2.jsp?s=loss%2520of%2520my%2520infatuation%2520with%2520Read%2520more&wt=1&nafid=&cobrand=" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> </div></div></div>robinganemccallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14803105645598145281noreply@blogger.com0