Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[hack]

That has been the subject of doctoral dissertations for most of my lifetime. I happen to believe free trade makes us richer. However, the countries that got rich with trade (or protectionism for that matter) were geographically separate. It was simply easier to protect American manufacturing when the cost of transportation was a larger share of the retail price.

Regarding protectionism and trade, National Review has an article called "Progressivism Goes Global" in the most recent issue. It doesn't discuss trade directly, but the thesis is that the Progressivism of Woodrow Wilson was about destroying federalism, but keeping American nationalists in charge. And it has been victorious. After Reagan/Thatcher, the progressives worldwide have been about the breakdown of nation-states in the same way that American Progressivism broke down federalism.

The point here is that NAFTA or the Pacific trade deal were supported, partly, to further transnational progressivism.

I understand that Americans who think they lost their jobs to foreign workers can be for protectionism. But that cannot begin to account for the popularity of the Trump position on trade; there are just not enough people affected. I think there is an underlying mistrust of global government that goes beyond trade.

Hack. Interesting post on Keyna. Can you see where the thesis of "breaking down federalism" is similar to "breaking down nation states"? Are citizens of the US helped when Texas gives tax breaks to a California corporation to lure it to Texas? Are citizens of the world helped when Kenya gives massive tax breaks to transnational corporations? No. But the analysis depends on the group of people you want to "protect".

Or the analysis depends on what someone means by ``us'' when they say that trade is good for us. That assumes ``we'' are a monolith of economic interests, when in truth we are not and in fact have clashing interests. I agree that a race to the bottom on tax rates in the end helps only the tax payer. That's what the IMF is reacting to right now. But one thing about our system of sovereign countries is that taxation is at the heart of sovereignty. Countries are free to set their own tax rates and aren't going to give up that bit of their sovereignty, so there will always be some who use lowering rates as a tool.

I'm not sure what you mean by breaking down federalism. Or transnational progressivism. The only thing I could imagine there is the global development/aid community. I can see ways in which FTAs have indirectly helped development agencies, but I can't imagine what direct benefits there would be.

[Wild Hoss]

People easily believing the video/meme fitting their agenda & beliefs is a good one; way too much of that from people I thought weren't so gullible. Instead of delete, I just use the 'unfollow' where I never hear anything from them on my newsfeed again.

I did this en masse during the runup to the 2012 election...just wiped out a couple dozen people who were posting non-stop political tripe. I have found, in the intervening years, that I haven't missed much. Those people are still at it.

That, and people who are using FB for some financial gambit or another. Not interested in living the Tofu Fit Life, thanks. GTFO.

[iam416]

My FB is pretty tame after mass and ruthless purges. Now I mostly purge the sites people "like" that crop up. Obviously, Breitbart and Disdain for Plebes are blocked from my feed along with Huffington Post and other liberal crapfests. And Joe Bauserman

[Wild Hoss]

Looking at their YouTube videos... Anonymous is currently pointing "its" focus on the US govt.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I wouldn't even go to their YouTube channel if I were you. Whatever they say is their focus de jour, I can promise you that they'll drop it in favor of stealing your ID.

[hack]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/turkeys-thirty-year-coup

Essential reading on Turkey. NYer sent Filkins in a few weeks after the coup and the result was a pretty stale ``I haven't really looked into this place in four years'' sort of piece. Now this, which is a pretty definitive so-far take on the Erdogan period in Turkey. Tons of dots connected and things put in context. And the feet thing is really creepy.

[edindetroit]

Watching Donald Trump just now it hit me what is happening. My mind carried me back to 1933 in Germany.

While you are there can you shoot Hitler for us?

[Wild Hoss]

While you are there can you shoot Hitler for us?

My God man, haven't we learned enough about messing with the timeline from Robert Zemekis?



Given current events...this is, terrifyingly, within the realm of possibility.

[entropy]

https://newrepublic.com/article/137798/important-wikileaks-revelation-isnt-hillary-clinton

This revelation from WikiLeaks isn't a surprise. I would have guessed this is how it works with both parties.. where elected officials return their favors not just in policy, but positions of influence and jobs.

[hack]

Yup, that's how it works. As a rule bosses tend to hire people they know, since strangers are unknown. In politics you get known in specific ways. Raise some funds for the candidate and you're on your way.

Froman is an interesting character. Wall Street is smaller since the financial crisis, and many of those no longer there have found a home in Washington, in and around government. Froman appears to be one of the more dynamic of them, and he's brought a degree of private-sector sensibility to public-sector weirdness. He's behind the movement to use government funding in development to support private investment, rather than wasting it on half-baked projects that dont make a difference. sounds good on paper; we'll see how it goes.

[CGVT]

My FB is pretty tame after mass and ruthless purges. Now I mostly purge the sites people "like" that crop up. Obviously, Breitbart and Disdain for Plebes are blocked from my feed along with Huffington Post and other liberal crapfests. And Joe Bauserman

Since Facebook successfully kicked Adblock's ass, I use Ublock Origin. It blocks all ads and all of the "suggested posts" that pop up based on your friends' likes.

It makes it more tolerable.

I have refrained from unfollowing most of my friends because I like seeing updates on their families and lives. I don't have that many Facebook friends, a couple hundred I guess. A lot of them are not really friends, old shipmates, people from high school that I haven't seen in 40 years, etc. that tend to be purveyors of political bullshit. I have no problem unfollowing them.

[iam416]

I don't typically unfollow friends, but I can unfollow sites they like. Most of my feed doesn't affirmatively post political stuff; it's all "shares" or "likes" -- a vigilant effort to unfollow everything from the sites they like/share has made my feed mostly the "pictures of kids" shit that I use FB for.

If I want a #hottake, then I can go to Twitter! The Marketplace of Ideas!

[hack]

Social media is what you make of it. Follow/friend people who are interesting and informed and it's great. Save for the fact that first they came for our privacy, and I said nothing.

Ublock Origin? Thanks - will try.

[Jeff Buchanan]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...irty-year-coup

Essential reading on Turkey. NYer sent Filkins in a few weeks after the coup and the result was a pretty stale ``I haven't really looked into this place in four years'' sort of piece. Now this, which is a pretty definitive so-far take on the Erdogan period in Turkey. Tons of dots connected and things put in context. And the feet thing is really creepy.

This is a fascinating article that probably only you and I will be interested in.

What strikes me as more important that an inside look at Turkish politics over the last three decades is the impact that Meisannic figures can have on both well educated people who get sucked in by them and especially the less educated underclasses.

Gulen is such a figure. So is Donald Trump but for some significant differences between the two. The message of both of them though is what feeds their individual successes in recruiting supporters.

Gulen's strategy is also revealing of how political ends can be achieved with minimal military involvement. His approach also seems to portend the kind of thing we can expect from Islamists whether on the extremes of that religion (IS) or more moderate but nonetheless as dangerous forms of Islam found in Saudi Arabia (Sunni-Whabiists) and Iran (Shia).

I saw a piece on FrontLine recently titled Confronting ISIS. What struck me here is how little concern there is within the Arab world about the kind of threat to the West that IS is. There is much more concern there about who has the inside track among the two most powerful religious sects of Islam. Clearly, Saudi is more concerned about Iran and their military engagement in various places, particularly Yemen, is intended to limit Iran's growing power regionally and by extension Shia Islam. There is no love lost between Saudi and the US over the West's Nuc deal with Tehran. My view is it in Saudi's interests to not support anything the US is trying to do in Syria and to a large degree that is why US goals in Syria are not likely to be achieved.

People have to understand this to understand why it is no simple matter for the West to simply jump in with both feet to stop the fighting and by extension the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Putin's moves in Syria are very troubling. Russia's goal is to keep the West off balance in the region as well as Western Euope. He's doing a great job of it. It's exactly what Gorbi was talking about in his most recent speech - something he rarely does

[froot loops]

I don't have a Facebook account, it would be too much.

[AlabamAlum]

I don't Facebook, either.