Kamala’s AI Campaign (8-27-24)

01:00 Trump Denounces Harris on Defense, a Big Week Begins | Mark Halperin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcM9LOW4mBc
04:30 Kamala’s AI campaign, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7BzFWkDwFk
14:00 Defining Kamala’s AI campaign
16:20 Who’s running Kamala’s campaign? Her sister Maya? Obama’s people?
17:30 Vox: An inside look at how the far right is mainstreaming itself, https://www.vox.com/politics/368884/online-right-l0m3z-jonathan-keeperman-interview-razib-khan
23:30 Jonathan Keeperman: becoming Lomez, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0aQXTcqaI0
26:00 Tim Walz, Kamala Harris don’t know what they stand for
31:30 Elliott Blatt joins
37:50 Jesse Waters says the generals will have their way with Kamala in the situation room
39:00 L0m3z: What is the Longhouse? https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/02/what-is-the-longhouse
44:00 Guardian: Revealed: US university lecturer behind far-right Twitter account and publishing house, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/14/far-right-twitter-identity-revealed
48:50 ISRAEL’S STRIKE ON HEZBOLLAH – NOT WHAT IT SEEMS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_80JndxmU8
57:50 Mark Zuckerberg regrets going along with Biden censorship requests
1:01:00 NYT: The Bitter Fight Over the Meaning of ‘Genocide’, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/magazine/genocide-definition.html
1:04:30 Kip joins to discuss white despair
1:12:00 While on his scooter, Kip hit a deer at 39 mph
1:18:00 I nag Kip like a wife
1:25:00 Just a flesh wound, https://thingsthatmadeanimpression.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/dialogue-from-film-monty-python-the-holy-grail/
1:27:40 NYT: Why Is the Loneliness Epidemic so Hard to Cure?, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/27/magazine/loneliness-epidemic-cure.html
1:34:00 The Harris Interview; Trump Mulls Debate | Mark Halperin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvX58fQtkaQ
1:35:00 Why did the Democrats give the nomination to Kamala?
Kamala loves to drink, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=157117
1:36:30 Kamala’s deficits
1:37:30 After 5 easy weeks, Kamala is not ahead in the battleground states

Posted in America | Comments Off on Kamala’s AI Campaign (8-27-24)

More Evidence That Kamala Has A Drinking Problem (8-26-24)

01:00 Kamala loves to drink, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=157117
10:00 DNC, Day Four: So She Spoke Finally, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWSFiyZ1fPU
20:00 Bryan Caplan argues that silence is better than news, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=146911
27:30 Bad News: How Woke Media Undermines Democracy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTf4JYfMuoI
30:00 How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy: IPA Encounters with Batya Ungar-Sargon, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P81rbOs0pWc
31:30 Diversity Increases Daily Friction, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=157201
34:00 Kamala Harris grew up in Berkeley, CA, but doesn’t talk about it, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/25/us/politics/kamala-harris-berkeley-hometown.html
40:00 Ben Shapiro on race & IQ
45:00 Conservative media generally aims at the working class
54:30 Republicans say the FBI, Secret Service are dragging their feet investigation the Trump assassination attempt
1:01:00 Mark Zuckerberg regrets going along with Biden administration’s pressure to censor covid-related posts, https://www.wsj.com/tech/mark-zuckerberg-neutral-politics-letter-election-2024-02b86372?st=arq8kd0217vgc9m
1:07:45 Doug Emhoff’s many affairs – some still going, his ex-wife paid by Kamala campaign https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1828101746649886805
1:13:00 Thomas Crooks father has lawyered up. Chat: He is lawyering up because the parents of the school shooter in MI were convicted.
1:15:00 The Great Awokening and the Alt Right rose together in 2014, 2015

Transcript.

Podnotes Summary: There’s more evidence suggesting Kamala Harris has a drinking problem, which many have speculated about for years. This was new to me but explains her odd behavior and insecurity. She might be using alcohol as liquid courage.

Mark Halperin recommended Sean Spice’s podcast this morning, where they discussed Kamala’s alleged drinking issue with James Blair, the political director. A tweet from Blair mentioned rumors of Kamala having a serious drinking problem as her campaign heats up.

People on social media are asking if there’s credible testimony about this issue. Some sources claim to have witnessed it firsthand.

There are numerous bizarre clips of Kamala online that hint at this speculation going back years. Her erratic speeches and laughter make some believe she might be drunk during public appearances.

A video surfaced showing unclear statements by Harris, leading to claims she was under the influence of alcohol during the speech at Howard University. However, fact-checking revealed discrepancies between the viral video and official transcripts.

Despite these rumors, it’s important to note that enjoying drinks doesn’t necessarily mean one has a drinking problem. Yet, if true, it would explain much of her puzzling behavior over time.

Kamala Harris is often compared unfavorably to Barack Obama in terms of political impact and charisma. While Obama had audacious initiatives like healthcare reform early in his presidency, critics argue that Harris hasn’t achieved similar feats or demonstrated comparable leadership qualities.

Overall, while there’s chatter about her possibly having a drinking problem—fueled by various clips and testimonies—the truth remains uncertain without concrete evidence or acknowledgment from credible sources.

The rise of extreme views on both sides and the concept of “wokeness” are contributing factors. However, Jews aren’t the primary targets; it’s more about the working class across all races. Wearing a yarmulke in liberal cities like New York can be challenging, but I don’t see it as an immediate threat.

Liberals often focus on diversity among elites rather than addressing why there’s such a wealth gap. The question should be whether everyone has access to opportunities, not just making elites more diverse.

I’ve found that conservatives surprisingly welcome my Marxist ideas even though I’m upfront about them. This acceptance contrasts with liberals who criticize me for engaging with conservatives.

In simpler societies like Australia, ordering coffee is straightforward compared to the complex orders at Starbucks in America. Gerald Stone highlighted this simplicity when he moved from the U.S. to Australia after working in journalism here.

Media today largely ignores economic mobility issues which were once central during periods like the mid-20th century when people from different economic backgrounds shared similar interests and lifestyles.

Fox News caters primarily to those without college degrees while mainstream media focuses on elite audiences. Today’s partisan divide is less about politics and more about class differences, reflecting broader societal changes where working-class concerns have been sidelined by both political parties and most media outlets.

We can’t rely on documents to conduct effective interviews, so we depend on leaks for the truth. A whistleblower told Senator Josh Holly that Secret Service leaders instructed agents not to request extra manpower for a rally where Trump was shot. This contradicts the Secret Service director’s testimony, who denied any resource denial.

Five Secret Service agents were placed on leave after the shooting, including key security personnel at Trump’s rally. It’s unclear if this was disciplinary or for other reasons. Local police set aside radios for the Secret Service, but they weren’t picked up. As a result, when local police radioed about a man on a roof, the Secret Service missed it until shots were fired.

Congressman Mike Waltz questioned how Thomas Crooks managed such sophisticated actions and why he used encrypted apps and social media messages that might have been written by someone else. The FBI cracked two of three foreign apps Crooks used but won’t disclose contents.

The story raises concerns about competence within the Secret Service and whether Crooks acted alone. Congressman Corey Mills highlighted failures in communication and surveillance offers refused by the Secret Service during their first hearing with counter-sniper Ben Sc.

Mark Zuckerberg admitted Facebook bowed to Biden administration pressure to censor COVID-19 content in 2021—a move he regrets now—and vowed not to repeat efforts criticized as “Z bucks.”

Various stories highlight ongoing issues: Taiwan’s limited fuel reserves; Washington DC family losing custody over gender transition refusal; Tucker Carlson’s firing linked more to advertising than ratings; Kamala Harris’ controversial economic proposal; disparities in medical school admissions based on IQ scores among different races; shifts in journalism from balanced reporting toward engagement-driven content tailored for liberal elite audiences.

Journalism has shifted significantly due to digital influence and profit motives favoring extreme views—especially left-leaning ones—to drive engagement rather than balanced reporting aimed at broad readerships.

Any politician who asks for a no-fly zone will quickly face media backlash, with immediate escalation. It’s terrible. Glenn Greenwald has pointed out that despite the tragedy in Ukraine, there’s little debate in elite media about the options available to the U.S., EU, or NATO. He attributes this to the influence of war proponents.

Journalists seek dramatic stories because they boost viewership and ratings. This focus on sensationalism is appalling as it often sacrifices truthful reporting and exploits crises like Ukraine’s for their own agendas.

For example, during the Canadian truckers’ protest—a significant labor strike against vaccine mandates—the media labeled participants as fascists and Nazis based on minimal evidence. This misrepresentation shows how working-class dissent is vilified if it opposes liberal economic policies.

In contrast, Facebook recently allowed praise for Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, known for its neo-Nazi affiliations—highlighting hypocrisy in labeling groups based on convenience rather than consistent principles.

This selective outrage mirrors other social movements where symbols are adopted without deep understanding. While supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty is valid, some people’s fervent advocacy seems superficial compared to numerous global issues needing attention.

Posted in America | Comments Off on More Evidence That Kamala Has A Drinking Problem (8-26-24)

Decoding The News (8-25-24)

01:00 Hate Comments About Gus Walz, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=157131
14:00 Tucker Carlson – The FULL Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H1tjQ-RaZU
15:30 What’s going on with Ken Brown aka Deep Left Jokl? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aALp15nKpUI
26:00 Kamala Harris, LBJ & The Passage Of Power, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=157143
34:30 How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy: IPA Encounters with Batya Ungar-Sargon, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P81rbOs0pWc
38:00 Batya Ungar-Sargon got her PhD from UC Berkeley: Her dissertation was Coercive Pleasures: The Force and Form of the Novel 1719-1740, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batya_Ungar-Sargon
54:00 Elliott Blatt joins to talk about Ken Brown aka Deep Left Jokl
1:10:00 News: French authorities arrest Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at a Paris airport, https://apnews.com/article/france-russia-telegram-paris-durov-arrest-63cd8e5663c6b6f3404745866d662954
1:11:00 Andrew Tate’s commentary on the arrest
1:27:50 Civility vs truth
1:29:00 Stephen J. James joins the show to discuss speech crackdown in the UK
1:54:00 ADHD medication such as adderall
2:00:00 SSRIs, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/06/23/epidemic-mental-illness-why/
2:21:00 Kip joins to talk about SSRIs
3:00:00 The New York Times operated project feels
3:02:00 Kip on the three stages of money
3:29:10 Mainstream media caught in ‘woke stranglehold’: Batya Ungar-Sargon, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxzvZ29zaXQ
3:35:30 Wrestlers, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestlers_(TV_series)
3:38:30 Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33038128/
3:39:00 Tucker Carlson Explains Why JD Vance is Actually Normal… But Tim Walz is the Weird VP Candidate, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xu7hyxLqeY
3:39:50 17 Ugly Psychology Truths No One Wants To Admit – Adam Lane Smith, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOvSVmx_F-c
3:41:00 Women who have sex on the first date
3:43:00 Trump vs Harris Debate Behaviors. What to watch for, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEIjlhlCT5M
3:50:10 Defining grifting as excessive profiteering, https://www.patreon.com/DecodingTheGurus/posts
3:54:00 Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt
3:58:00 Elon Musk, Gad Saad, Jonathan Haidt, James Lindsay and company would have been saner if they had been less adulated
4:01:30 Natcon Squad dissects Democrats, Kamala Harris, https://x.com/NatConTalk/status/1827604928581292536
4:07:25 How to Make Peace With Your Life, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfCGGMw0yHQ

Transcript.

Podnotes AI summary: Gus Waltz, the 17-year-old son of Democratic VP nominee Tim Watts, had an intense reaction to his father that drew much attention. Gus repeatedly yelled “That’s my dad” during a significant moment. This kind of emotional display naturally prompts reactions from people who often share their thoughts on social media or in conversation.

When witnessing such intense behavior, there are two main ways to respond: casually and reflexively. The casual response involves openly sharing your immediate thoughts—whether you find the reaction beautiful, weird, or over-the-top. However, when dealing with public figures’ children or sensitive situations, it’s often wiser to monitor your behavior carefully and stay silent until understanding what is socially acceptable.

Having ADHD can complicate this balance between natural reactions and considered responses. Medication like Adderall has helped many manage these impulses better by making it easier to figure out appropriate responses.

There’s value in both types of reactions—the spontaneous truth-telling and the disciplined civility—but they come at different social costs. Public figures’ families are often used as props for political gain but also become targets for criticism.

Reflecting on personal experiences helps understand Gus’s reaction better. For instance, seeing a loved one publicly humiliated can provoke strong emotions similar to those Gus displayed.

While criticizing politicians’ children isn’t ideal due to its moral implications, suppressing natural human reactions entirely isn’t always beneficial either. In politics especially, balancing civility with truthfulness is challenging but crucial for honest discourse.

For example, recognizing signs of potential issues in leaders (like suspected substance abuse) could be important for public awareness despite societal pressures towards politeness and restraint.

Ultimately though raw honesty brings humanity into discussions; overly cautious speech might lead us away from necessary truths about our leadership dynamics today!

When my life is going well, I become more extroverted and confident. However, when my life feels like a string of humiliations, I turn introverted and avoid talking to people. This affects how often I do live streams; I’m typically happier and stronger when things are good.

As Kamala Harris rises in the polls, she gets a halo effect that makes her more appealing. Young people have even created their own version of her—less prim and proper but relatable. Despite politicians usually struggling to connect with youth, Harris has been rebranded successfully by them.

Lyndon Johnson’s transformation after JFK’s assassination was drastic. He became less casual in conversation and more controlled in his movements and voice. Winning made him appear composed; losing had made him awkward.

I started reading “How Work Media is Undermining Democracy” which explores media biases during Trump’s era. Contrary to expectations of finding rampant racism in the South, many Americans seemed past racial binaries despite media narratives suggesting deep polarization.

Journalism shifted from a working-class trade to an elite profession over time, causing journalists to lose touch with ordinary people’s struggles while focusing on issues that resonate with affluent liberals instead.

The book “Bad News” highlights this shift using examples such as the disproportionate coverage of Trump-Russia stories compared to pressing issues like opioid addiction or homelessness.

Overall, our drive for status shapes much of our behavior and perspectives—whether through nationalism or professional identity—and influences how we interpret information around us.

That’s why I’ve been feeling off lately. Maybe it’s the change in weather or something, but I need to hide your face because that voice syncs up weirdly.

Anyway, let’s talk about Joe Cole. What’s going on with his hair? You know him; he’s a great guy—intelligent, funny, always the center of attention. He improvises well and has lots of insights.

Meeting him reminded me of my younger days with curious and active friends. Despite his absurd cult leader aspirations, at least he has goals. Better than people with no ambitions who are just boring unless their influence is harmful.

Joe could be an entrepreneur; he’s intelligent but might struggle with tedious tasks. He’s not receptive to advice either. For example, we went hiking near Mt Tam’s outdoor amphitheater where he performed a funny public address spontaneously—he loves being the center of attention.

He reminds me of someone talented yet unable to execute due to laziness or dopamine addiction—a subtle cancer affecting many talented individuals today.

Is Joe connected closely with family or community? He didn’t share much about his origins when asked—it seems like he lacks strong ties which would otherwise check his behavior.

About his hair: it’s another bid for attention rather than transitioning gender-wise. Seems like an accidental style choice turned intentional performance for more noticeability among peers around 25-30 years old compared to younger followers around 21-22 years old who admire him despite questionable actions like attacking Steve Sailer without reading any material first—a lazy move showing poor character judgment similar seen in academics criticizing books unread by them during discussions on shows like Crossfire back then

Cheating culture enabled through internet habits allows skating through college without doing work leading towards unpreparedness later impacting real-world job settings revealing true competence levels over time as observed within larger companies having complex politics versus smaller setups demanding accountability directly influencing one’s success rate overall

Apparently, the COVID booster is most effective for a month or two after you get it. Then it’s moderately effective for another month or two. By nine months, its effect is minimal.

I think I had COVID recently but didn’t lose my sense of taste, which you’re supposed to with COVID. I’m so tired of hearing about it. Many Americans share this sentiment—they’re sick of talking about COVID even though it’s been five years since we first heard about it in 2019.

Seeing people masked up and driving alone makes me feel disconnected from them. It’s frustrating.

On another note, I’ve been invited to a dinner I don’t want to attend. Declining again would likely end that relationship, which might be best since they asked if I’d write postcards for a camera—a task I’m not interested in at all.

I’ve also distanced myself from Joe by insisting he remove his stored items from my apartment yesterday. It feels good to reestablish boundaries.

Now let’s discuss the balance between civility and truth-telling as seen with political figures like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris versus extreme outbursts by others like Tim Wasongas. Excessive emphasis on civility can prevent us from telling vital truths.

Some liberals believed they were heading towards utopia until bold statements by Trump shocked them into an eight-year state of disbelief.

Moving on, some people arrested in the UK for social media posts made direct threats inciting violence—those arrests are justified. However, there’s concern over lenient sentences given to more severe crimes compared to harsh penalties for speech-related offenses without actual harm caused.

Regarding Andrew Tate: he’s seen as exploiting social media rather than offering positive masculinity lessons despite gaining young male followers who reject self-defeating narratives imposed on them by society’s views on toxic masculinity.

The Me Too movement has affected how men approach women; many now fear being labeled predators and avoid making advances altogether.

In terms of body count preferences among peers: generally lower numbers are preferred due concerns over faithfulness or undesirability linked with higher counts.

Finally addressing mainstream news consumption—it may lead people around by the nose unless they’re discerning enough while alternative sources like Twitter come with their own biases too.

In America, private medicine is cheaper because there’s no market competition in places like Australia or the UK due to lack of private healthcare options. Someone close to me took many months and several thousand dollars through conventional medicine with adult ADHD diagnosis in Australia.

Adderall wears off dramatically after four or five hours compared to Modafinil which lasts around fifteen hours without noticeable fading effects. Another ADHD medication I’m on causes increased waiting time between wanting to pee and being able to pee.

I take Adderall twice daily depending on circumstances—first dose early morning (4-6AM), second dose anywhere between 10AM-2PM based on my schedule needs, especially if I have evening commitments.

Regarding emotional impacts: Straterra deals more with emotional components of ADHD while Adderall focuses more on productivity aspects without significant ill effects aside from withdrawal symptoms after its effect fades out.

Elliott believes natural reactions are better overall but acknowledges some people might need medications under high stress or dangerous situations such as psychotic individuals prone towards violence needing chemical downgrading.

Another friend was on an SSRI but hated how it made him feel. He tried quitting and stayed awake for three days before going back to the medication. It seemed like such a radical intervention, committing someone to a life of being semi-poisoned, which I find terrifying.

I’ve managed my mental and physical health directly, only visiting the hospital once for a broken arm. I’ve been generally healthy and emotionally balanced.

If you had children, would you want them to have your life or something better? I’d want mine to have a more socially well-adjusted life than I’ve had.

Steven agreed that it’s natural to want better for your children. If his kid had ADHD, he might medicate them young because he’s concerned about staying on track after dropping out of competitive sports.

He suggested playing tennis as it offers socialization and exercise benefits while avoiding physical risks associated with fighting sports. Tennis has been his primary form of socialization until he got too old due to injuries from frequent play.

The quality of people who play tennis is usually high—they are often educated, employed winners with good social standing. However, starting out in tennis requires finding partners willing to play regularly.

Posted in America, Censorship, England, Psychiatry, Psychology | Comments Off on Decoding The News (8-25-24)

The Need To Feel Superior

The less superior my real life, the more intensely I’ve felt the need for a hero system that makes me superior.

Growing up as a believing Seventh-Day Adventist, I felt superior to the rest of the world because I was part of the elect.

Largely outside of my religious world was the power of nationalism. I lived in Australia until age 11. Most Aussies seemed to think that if you weren’t an Aussie, you didn’t matter much.

I moved to California at age 11. Americans were more outwardly patriotic than Australians but they enjoyed less social trust and cohesion. Nationalism ran strong in both countries.

By my teens, the fervor of my religious worldview diminished as my sex drive increased. When I was 14, we got a TV for the first time, and I saw on that screen beautiful women and the type of superior physical and social life I wanted. My religious faith grew cold as my selfish desires for attention and pleasure took over.

I began college at age 19 and became exposed to Marxism at age 20, and I played around with Marxism for a couple of years because it gave me the thrill of being in the vanguard. Then I encountered Dennis Prager when I was at UCLA in 1988-1989 and I became convinced that Judaism was the superior life.

My life didn’t consistently align with my best interests until 2016 (I started my first 12-step program in 2012, and by 2016, I was up to five of them). By the time covid hit in 2020, I was in a good place and now I look back and I respect most of my online work from that date on.

A good tool for analyzing commentators and the world is noting what makes people feel important. What are the likely incentives driving people? After we meet our basic needs, our most intense drive is for status, noted Tom Wolfe.

July 5, 2016, Nieman StoryBoard published:

Wolfe’s refinement was what he calls the “statusphere.” Everyone isn’t directly competing for status with everyone else; rather, they pursue status within a distinct sphere — and regard their own statusphere as the best of all.

“That has more or less been my system of approaching any subject,” Wolfe says. “For instance, ‘The Right Stuff’ is not a book about space, it’s a book about status competition among pilots.”

Today, no less than in Wolfe’s grad-school days, the lure of what Weber termed “status honor” is all around us. If anything, the age of the Internet has opened up frontiers of status competition undreamed-of half a century ago. Thanks to social media, people edit — sorry, “curate” — versions of their lives to friends and strangers and compete for a dopamine-releasing tally of “likes.” And did Victorian England have anything on modern social media in its capacity for enforcing social conformism through shaming?

Tom Wolfe wrote in “The Nanny Mafia”: “Nannies have a higher standing than a nursemaid, since they have the power to impose discipline and manners on the child. But they have a lower standing than a governess, in that they undertake no real education. But mainly, in Europe and the United States, they have become a symbol of the parents’ status. First of all, parents who have nannies to look after the children have to have money. That is one thing. And parents who have nannies lead their own lives. This gives them more status even in front of their children. They don’t have to appear in the ridiculous role of martyred, harried creatures, forever ill-kempt and ill-humored, waiting on the children like servants.”

Liah Greenfeld wrote in 2018:

The world nationalism made

German nationalism, which eventually took the form of National Socialism, was a collectivistic nationalism, but it belonged to the collectivistic and ethnic type of nationalism. In the framework of ethnic nationalism, membership in the nation is a matter of blood, which can neither be acquired if one is not born into it, nor lost if one is; in other words, nationality is race. This type of nationalism, which is fundamentally racism (sometimes called ethnic chauvinism), is the form in which racism has appeared in the modern era, and it develops when the envisioned national community has a relatively poor record of cultural achievement.

By the time German nationalism began to develop, the German cultural record was—disturbingly for the nationalists—rather undistinguished. Secular literature in German—drama, poetry, philosophy, science—barely appeared before the late eighteenth century. This was the reason why German nationalism pointed to the intangibles of blood and soil as the proof of German virtues and stressed the superficiality of visible achievement in France, Britain, and especially among the Jews. (This was also the reason for the insistence of Nazi ideologists in the twentieth century, despite it being contrary to all evidence, that German culture dated back fifteen hundred years.) This cultural underachievement of the community is recognized by the very members of the elite who import nationalism, leading to the development of a sense of inferiority among them, which becomes a central ingredient of the national consciousness. This sense of inferiority results in the specific psychological dynamics of existential envy (ressentiment), which in turn makes the nation that is formed very aggressive—always feeling threatened in its dignity, and eager to blame outsiders, whose superior achievements its spokesmen envy, for its woes.

While Germany represents the paradigmatic example of collectivistic and ethnic nationalism, perhaps its most salient example nowadays is nationalism in various Muslim countries. From the moment that national consciousness in the Muslim world was born, a sense of cultural inferiority has plagued, in particular, the Arab elites, especially vis-à-vis the achievements of the Jewish settlement that became the state of Israel. Although most of the Arab states were created by Western powers who never colonized their territories (ruled prior to 1918 by the Ottoman Empire, which privileged its Muslim coreligionists above all of its other subjects), the resentment of Arab nationalists toward the equally secular Jews was first expressed as a general sentiment against colonialism or imperialism—that is, against the West. (Since Lenin’s day, at least, colonialism was considered a characteristically Western, first-world crime.)

Liah Greenfeld writes in her 2016 book on nationalism:

* The worth of the nation—the psychological gratification afforded by national identity and therefore its importance—is related to the experience of dignity by wide and ever widening sectors of humanity. The remarkable quality of national identity—and also its essential quality—is that it guarantees status with dignity to every member of whatever is defined as the national community. It is this quality that recommended nationalism to European (and later other) elites whose status was threatened or
who were prevented from achieving the status they aspired to, that ensured the spread of nationalism throughout the world in the last two centuries, and that explains its staying power in the face of material interests that often pull in the other direction.

In the early days of nationalism, different elite groups, exposed to nationalist ideas, reacted dissimilarly to them, in accordance with the relative ability of nationalism to aid them in their status-maintaining and status-aggrandizing pursuits. An example is furnished by the nobility in various German lands who as late as the 1800s remained indifferent to the appeal of nationalism, embracing it rather reluctantly during the Wars of Liberation.

* Among non-noble intellectuals, the second of the two elite groups that were responsible for the initial establishment of nationalism in Europe, the idea of the nation also had to compete with other status-bestowing frameworks. As long as other identities appeared to promise more dignity, the nation failed to captivate them and secure their commitments. French philosophes were above particularistic self-content. Voltaire wrote that “a philosopher has no patrie and belongs to no faction,” and that “every man
is born with a natural right to choose his patrie for himself.”1 Abbe Raynal believed that “the patrie of a great man is the universe.”2 Great men, explained Duclos, “men of merit, whatever the nation of their origin, form one nation among themselves. They are free from the puerile national vanity. They leave it to the vulgar, to those who, having no personal glory, have to content themselves with the glory of their countrymen.” …So long as one could reasonably hope to become world famous (and French philosophes in the mid-eighteenth century still had a reasonable chance of that), it was foolish to limit oneself to a small part of the world. And if one was confident in one’s superiority and felt assured of recognition, one had no need for shared dignity of a nation. In fact, one had no need for nation at all, a republic of letters was enough.

…German intellectuals remained faithful to their cosmopolitan ideals long after their French brethren had abandoned theirs. Nicolai considered German nationalism “a political monstrosity”;4 Schiller claimed to have given up his fatherland in exchange “for the great world” and wrote “as a citizen of the world.”5 Fichte was a principled cosmopolitan as late as 1799… Nationalism did not appeal to German intellectuals prior to the Napoleonic campaign because they were the only group interested in the redistribution of prestige in society, and without the support of the nobility and the bureaucracy, they lacked the means to enforce it. To insist on such a redistribution (implied in the idea of the nation) in this situation would have only invited ridicule and damaged the chances of social advancement which some of them had. It was more satisfying to dream that one was an equal member of a community of intellectuals…

* Most of our experiences, however, are not experiences of physical or biological realities, but of the social reality. This reality is also constituted by our experiences, but we don’t experience it through our bodily senses, we experience it through, or in, our minds. Most of our empirical reality, in other words, is neither material nor organic, it is mental.

* While all other animal species, irrespective of the level of development and place on the evolutionary tree, essentially transmit their ways of life genetically, we overwhelmingly transmit our ways of life through symbols.

* No human group of any duration, and no individual, unless severely handicapped or (as an infant) undeveloped mentally, can live without an identity. Having an identity is a psychological imperative and, therefore, a sociological constant… An identity defines the position of its individual or group bearer in a more or less extensive sphere of the social world that is relevant for this bearer, and serves as a map or blueprint for this sphere…

* [P]opulations homogeneous as to any particular such characteristic do not necessarily share the same identity and consciousness: medieval peasants and lords in Europe, though all Christians, did not share an identity—peasants identifying as peasants and lords identifying as lords—and, beyond all doubt, thought differently. To return to language, they did not speak the same language… identities were estate-based… there were no ethnic identities before nationalism…

* Language, above everything else, is the medium of thinking, thinking representing the explicitly symbolic component of our consciousness, the explicitly symbolic mental process… traffic lights well may be the most efficient system of communication among humans… To capture symbolic experiences (experiences produced by the specifically human, cultural environment) language is necessary; only it can incorporate them into reality. A stable sphere of new experiences presupposes the annexation to human existence of a new sphere of meaning which only language can create, the emergence of a new semantic space. Therefore, while one can imagine a social current without the participation of language, institutionalization without language is impossible. Any social order starts with the creation of a new vocabulary, and this is demonstrated by every case of nationalism…

* collectivistic nationalisms are more likely to engage in aggressive warfare than individualistic nationalisms… Collectivistic nationalisms, by contrast, are forms of particularism, whether perceived in geopolitical, cultural (in the sense of acquired culture), or presumably inherent, ethnic terms. The borderline between “us” and “them” is relatively clear… collectivistic nationalisms are articulated by small elite groups… To achieve the solidarity of this larger population, made of diverse strands, they tend (though not invariably) to blame their misfortunes not on agencies within the nation, whom they would as a result alienate, but on those outside it. If they do blame internal elements, they define these as agents acting on behalf of or in collusion with hostile foreigners. Thus, from their perspective, the nation is from the start united in common hatred.

* During war, ethnic nationalism is more conducive to brutality in relation to the enemy population than civic nationalism. This is so because civic nationalism, even when particularistic, still treats humanity as one, fundamentally homogeneous entity.

Posted in Nationalism, Personal | Comments Off on The Need To Feel Superior

Diversity Increases Daily Friction

Gerald Stone was born in the USA but after the Cuban Missile Crisis, he moved his family to Australia where he had a long distinguished career in journalism. He launched Australia’s 60 Minutes program and then ended up back in the USA for a few years working for Fox. In his terrific 2011 book, Say It With Feeling: Megastars, Media Tsars, Trailblazing TV: Memoirs of a Prime Time Warrior (one of the ways I splurged on myself during Covid was to buy this hardcover), Stone wrote:

“Americans put a lot of time and effort into food. Back in Sydney, if I were holding an urgent production meeting that ran over, I would call for some chicken or ham-and-cheese sandwiches and not expect to hear a murmer of dissent. In New York in a similar situation the entire meeting would grind to a halt as a selection of menus from the nearest fast-food stores was passed around to ponder — one person to order Mexican, another Chinese…”

The more diverse your society, the more friction you’ll have in your transactions. Bill Saporito writes in the New York Times today:

There Are a Bazillion Possible Starbucks Orders — and It’s Killing the Company

You’re already in line at Starbucks — having failed to order by app — when you spot one of them. That dude who is looking down not at a cellphone but at the Post-it note that holds the orders of his office mates. Which is confirming that you are going to be late for that next meeting, because this person plans to order six coffee beverages, each of which involves some combination of tall venti grande double-pump, one to four shots of espresso, half-caf, oat milk, nonfat milk, soy milk, milk milk, whipped cream, syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, no sugar and mocha drizzle, from the pike position with two and a half twists.

Even ordering via app has issues. There’s often a crowd waiting at the bar end because Gen Z, which tends to prefer anything but human interface, has overwhelmed the baristas with the same orders-of-magnitude drinks. Starbucks says there are more than 170,000 possible drink combinations available, but outside estimates have put the number at more than 300 billion. And the person in front of you always seems to be ordering 100 million of them.

If the degree of difficulty in a typical Starbucks order now seems to be Olympian, so are its troubles.

Posted in America, Australia | Comments Off on Diversity Increases Daily Friction