zigzag

It is actually more about making the Democratic leadership as well as a all politician in national context become accountable to their constituency. Marketing through taglines is one of several of the multi-level ways they understand the constituency wants something. Other ways include the obvious email, call, visit, but to exert influence beyond that of the paid lobbyist, you have to create a item that rises above the noise. And the noise today is louder then ever.

The point I'm interested in is that the fascist in government need elected people with actionable paths (like Shumer and Jefferies) who can shut down the finances, use their oversight, write their own bills, use the house and Senate rules to change the tables, and turn down nomination of the executive.

This is not a time to be reasonable and negotiate as the Democrats are known for doing. It's a time for action, a time for the politicians to put their jobs and selves on the line for the democracy they swore an oath to, for the people who elected them. It's not a time to keep getting rich and just let the Republicans slide.

It they don't, we have no reason to vote for them. And yes I get the two party system problem with that, but from ashes needs to rise at least one viable Democratic leader. No body is stepping up in a profound way. We need an Eisenhower, or JFK, or Teddy at least. We need profound change, real leadership, and yelling with emotional and reason at the enemy to inspire a population.

As it is the US has jumped the shark, so it's just damage control.

Thanks, I'll add them and look forward to it.

My distilled understanding is that we are not psychological well built by evolution for this much information in the forms we now have technological. When you take our cognitive biases--which makes us persuadable--and couple that with a degenerating lack of taught fundamental critical thinking skills, it leads to irrational choices and mindsets which are not accounted for in our governing systems, let alone cultures, and economic. Indeed the latter point is that the capitalist system has a fiduciary responsibly to take advantage of any niche and exploit it, which has been let loose due to deregulation in various forms. Executive have little moral incentive to not be evil and instead to manipulate people in whatever manner best suits their shareholders. All of this creates echo chambers and self-reinforcing irrational behavior.

Obviously there is much more to it, but this is the elevator pitch version... Which I look forward to comparing against the books you indicated, plus any correction you might add.

This is where truth is crazier then fiction, but perhaps we can begin to get to grips with it.

How to avoid a techno-apocalypse brought on by the internet. Talks of several books where this is a core part of the plot.

THE nuclear blast that takes out Moab, Utah, in Neal Stephenson’s 2019 novel Fall; or, Dodge in Hell is “epistemic ground zero”. That is because it doesn’t actually happen. It is an online-only 9-11, a viral conspiracy theory that becomes the fault line along which the US fractures in two.

On one side, the people who believe that Moab is a no-go zone, and that the event has been covered up by swamp-dwelling politicians. On the other, the people who can freely travel to Moab to see the town is untouched.

The know-nothing side of the US devolves into Mad Max anarchy, becoming a no-go zone in its own right, which Stephenson brands Ameristan. The rest continue unimpeded into the technological future.

The book is one of many recent ones that tackle one of the questions of our time. As comedian Ronny Chieng put it in his Netflix special: “Who knew all of human knowledge could make people dumber?”

Perhaps it's time for Elon Musk to trade in his rockets and tweets for something a bit more, well, boring. After all, digging tunnels seems less likely to land him in hot water—or at least less likely to attract the attention of every regulatory agency with an acronym. With the FAA reportedly raising eyebrows over SpaceX activities and the SEC keeping tabs on his social media shenanigans, maybe subterranean ventures are the way to go.

The Boring Company might just be Musk's most grounded idea yet—literally. No satellites to launch, no cars to recall, and best of all, no character limits to consider before hitting "send." Just good old-fashioned dirt and a machine that goes "brrrr." Imagine the peace and quiet (well, except for the drilling sounds) of focusing on tunnels that could one day alleviate traffic woes—assuming they don't accidentally tap into a subway line.

And let's not forget, digging holes has a certain metaphorical elegance to it. If you're already in one, why not keep digging? It's a strategy that's worked so far, right? Plus, it's hard to get into legal trouble when you're underground—unless, of course, you accidentally tunnel into a vault or something. But hey, even then, it would make for an exciting twist in the ever-entertaining Musk saga.

So here's to hoping Elon swaps his Twitter tirades for tunnel trajectories. At least in the depths of the earth, there's no Wi-Fi to tempt him into late-night tweets that launch a thousand headlines. Maybe being boring isn't so bad after all.

Sounds like what US Special Operations does on the CA side plus or minus some.