Untangling the Middle East: A guide to the region's shifting relationships
SO. MANY. CHARTS. MUCH DATA.
This site made me have heart eyes emoji feelings. Heavy subject matter, but informative and well-presented. It'll be awhile before I sift through all of this. – Calvin
Why Robots Helped Donald Trump Win
Stupid title. I mean I've heard basically every possible culprit or cause brought forth as the reason Donald Trump won in 2016. Russians, robots, emails, Comeys, etc...but honestly this is a nice deep-dive into the town in America with the most manufacturing robots per capita, and the effect that has had on the community (mostly positive). -Brian
I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup
I believe this is the first time I've brought the same link back out for a second run in this newsletter. But I honestly believe this is the most enlightening article I've ever read when it comes to understanding the politics of America.
There are two major tribes in America and each has different markers of identity and inclusion. They each "virtue signal" (which is really just letting others around you know which tribe you are in) in different ways. One tribe, for example, might say something critical of white people (especially if the speaker is white) because the main identifier of that tribe is the concept of radical inclusion and the lifting up of the disadvantaged. The other tribe identifies very strongly with America and often publicly shows commitment to the tribe through public acts of Patriotism. The two tribes hate each other and will go out of their way to denigrate and ridicule the identity markers of the other group.
So let's take the application of these concepts to the Colin Kaepernick discussion. One side doesn't see why kneeling for the anthem is a big deal at all, and in fact thinks it's awesome because what Kaep is really doing is identifying and promoting a cause at the heart of one of the tribal identities (injustice against a minority). But the method of that protest is directly attacking the main tribal signifier of the other tribe. And so the other tribe responds quickly, emotionally, and with great vigor to this perceived slam on their tribe. Both tribes look at the same act and through the lens of their tribal markers; both find good reason to further hate the other tribe. And so the tribal separation and identities are reinforced, etc, etc, etc... -Brian
Shocking absolutely no one, Facebook admits it may be bad for democracy
You know this already but this one's mine not Calvin's since apparently every other link I save is on this same topic. -Brian
Stop Blaming Russian Bots For Everything
It is raaaaaare that a buzzfeed article makes it to this here space but this particular oddity is interesting, balanced, informative, and oddly (for buzzfeed) not hysterical. Did you know when you see a headline about russian bots pushing some topic or another that almost certainly comes from just 600 twitter accounts (out of the kabillions)? It isn't even as many bots as followed me on any random given Tuesday (before I deleted my twitter account because twitter is horrible for you, for me, for politics, and for our society). -Brian
Politics and the Working Class
A self analysis from the left on the nitty gritty policy missteps in the Clinton campaign in 2016. Stanley Greenberg is an old hand of Democratic presidential campaigns who is a little miffed his advice wasn’t followed and so may have an axe to grind, but his comments in general ring true to me. -Brian
Is Facebook Driving Our Country Apart?
And here's where I gripe about social media again; maybe I'm getting too predictable? Hey Calvin, should we create some sort of dedicated category for this stuff? -Brian
Tim Keller & Jonathan Haidt at NYU (Full Version) - The Veritas Forum - The Veritas Forum
Atheist and Christian pastor find common ground in how we respectfully disagree with each other. It's long but it's really fantastic. You can find this same podcast on iTunes or the video on Youtube. -Brian
The Seeds of a Moderate Movement Must Be Nurtured
I can't tell you how fast I would register at this point with a third "moderate" party that rejects both established parties and claims a carved out reasonable center position. -Brian