Part #3 Repairing Democracy: #508 – Clarence Thomas’ New Gig – Stand-Up Comedian

14 Tuesday May 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Causes of the Revolution, Possible Solutions, Societal Issues, Uncategorized

Welcome to a discussion about the upcoming 5th Revolution in the US, which I’ve titled the “Revenge Revolution.” For more about the Revenge Revolution and the author, click “About the Author” tab. Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US. The previous “sense check” was ENTRY #500.

BEGIN #508: During a recent private dinner for major Republican donors, SCOTUS Justice Thomas said he would be pursuing a part-time career when the court is not in session this summer. Thomas described the part-time career as a stand-up comedian.

When asked if he had another comedian in mind as a model, Thomas responded, “Rodney Dangerfield.” Thomas continued, “Like Dangerfield, I don’t get no respect. All those people are critical of me and my family. I don’t understand why. “

When someone at the dinner asked him to elaborate, Thomas claimed that people should not be disrespectful just because he has taken large loans that he never repaid or that he has taken a number of vacations paid for by someone else. In addition, people should not be upset because members of the family have received gifts from other Republicans.

Thomas lamented “Why are people so upset? SCOTUS has no rules about such corruption, I mean behavior. Well, at least the rules are not enforced. Besides, I deserve respect and all that money because…well, just because of who I am.“

Right Clarence. Let me provide some more perspective. First, respect is earned not automatically granted with the position. And being a justice of SCOTUS means you should be held to a higher standard, not a lower standard.

How does Thomas‘ behavior affect the intensity of the Revenge Revolution? While not the primary cause of the Revenge Revolution, the behavior of Thomas and other justices, even more than their decisions, affects how people view the credibility of branches of government. For decades SCOTUS has been viewed as the providing the guardrails for a rogue Congress or a rogue president.

The behavior of Thomas, Alito, and the Trump triumvirate has accelerated erosion in the public’s confidence of a credible SCOTUS. Confidence has fallen to the lowest since surveys began.

The solution to begin to rebuild confidence in SCOTUS? Term limits – i.e., years in office.

Generally, I’m opposed to term limits, especially since for most government officials the public has the opportunity to throw the bums out. Not so, however, with the SCOTUS justices, who are appointed for life. Putting some term limits would increase turnover and help avoid gross imbalances that could continue over decades.

Another change would be to make SCOTUS justices subject to the same rules and reporting requirements as other federal judges. The penalty for lack of compliance would be removal from the bench and not some BS impeachment hearing in the House and then a vote in the Senate.

Implementing term limits or time limits likely would require an amendment to the US Constitution. Subjecting SCOTUS justices to the same rules and regulations as other federal judges likely could be implemented by Chief Justice Roberts and certainly by Congress.

Such changes would be a good step to beginning to repair democracy in America. END #508.

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#507 Road to Repairing Democracy #2. Mandatory Civics before Graduation.

04 Saturday May 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Education Issues, Societal Issues, Uncategorized

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BEGIN #507: In the previous entry, I indicated an intent was to publish a series of ideas about how to rebuild American democracy. While I had a general idea about what suggestions to put forth, no issue stood out aside from politics.

Well, one issue has now jumped out, or crawled out as it were. The event should not be a surprise to anyone who is 21 or older, and by now no surprise to most who are younger.

The event occurs with such regularity it can be predicted accurately for decades ahead. Depending upon your locale in the US, the event occurs every 13 or 17 years. In some lucky locations, both events occur.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d be hard-pressed to miss the news about cicadas emerging from the ground. Yes, these little guys stay underground for 13 or 17 years, then come out and party for 4-6 weeks.

The partying gets annoying and awfully loud, and likely includes a lot of sex. After all, the cicadas are teenage partygoers. Also, like teenagers, the cicadas get into all kinds of places that they shouldn’t be, including occasionally jumping on to your shirt collar, then crawling inside.

Cicadas don’t bite – at least I’ve never been bitten – and as far as I know, do not transmit any infectious diseases. But they are still annoying.

We live in an area with an extensive number of trees. These trees are old enough that cicadas probably have used them for several of their 13/17-year cycles.

All this activity makes for great national and local news stories and casual conversations. With all that, do you think some people still don’t know about the cicadas’ party? Unfortunately, yes.

In the Nextdoor app a surprising number of people have made comments along the lines of, “Does anyone else hear that grinding sound? And where’s the noise coming from? “

In response to an explanation provided, some of the brain-dead people who’ve asked the question then reinforce their Ignorance by such explanations as they did not know about the cicadas because of spending too much time spent with the kids or some other nonsensical reason.

If you don’t know something, spending 15 seconds on a search engine often provides a credible answer. The people who use the Nextdoor app obviously have access to the Internet. And we expect them to study candidates before voting?

Another example of being braindead is a fellow alum from that technology school on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA. The guy is obviously bright – or was at one time – and I am embarrassed to tell this story.

During a recent conversation he wondered why Democrats were pursuing prosecuting Trump in Manhattan over a simple business fraud case. His rationale was that everyone in business commits fraud, and no one was really hurt by Trump’s actions.

Excuse me. The trial is not about fraud or even about hush money. The trial is about election interference. The fraud case against Trump was already decided with his substantial financial penalty – at least $175 million and possibly $500+ million. And, no, the trial is not a Democratic political issue. Election interference and fraud are legal issues that should be of interest to all citizens, regardless of political party.

There are many other examples of “what were they thinking?” beyond the couple cited. Where does such lack of thinking lead us?

To begin to solve the problem of lack of logical thinking, the recommendation is that before being able to graduate from high school, everyone should have to pass a test on the major components of the US Constitution. Prior to the exam, each student would have at least one semester about the history of the US Constitution, how it has evolved and been amended over the years and how it is being interpreted today.

Ideally, civics classes would begin in 7^th or 8^th grade. Courses would include participating as an elected representative in a mock government. The elected representatives would be charged with trying to solve real-world problems.

As part of the course, students would be required to read about local events. The problems required to solve could be wide ranging, including such seemingly mundane issues as “does the city government need to do anything special to educate citizens about the emergence of the cicadas?’

One occasionally hears a statement along the lines of, “you can’t legislate away stupid.“ True, but a good start would be teaching students how to learn about issues and to learn how to solve problems rather than trying to blame someone else. And another result of this effort might be students learning how to work together – and then teaching adults.

All for now. Another major idea next entry. END #507

#506: The Road to Repairing Democracy, Part I

21 Sunday Apr 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Uncategorized

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democracy, donald-trump, fascism, politics, trump

BEGIN #506: Over the past month or so, I have been ambivalent about writing entries for the blog. What else is there to say? US Revolution V, aka the Revenge Revolution, seems to be playing out in front of us.

The most obvious story is the Manhattan DA’s criminal charges against Trump. What would normally be a straightforward procedure in the criminal justice system has been turned into a 3-ring circus.

The circus was not created by the prosecutors or the judge, all of whom have behaved professionally and as one would expect. The 3-ring circus was created by the defendant – the 2-year-old disguised as a 77-year-old with orange hair.

While Trump‘s behavior is no surprise – he’s acted like a petulant 2-year-old since he was well, 2-years old. The surprise continues to be why his followers willingly support every act of his aimed at destroying the foundations of our democracy.

What motivates people to support someone who wants to take away an individual’s rights, someone who wants to be accountable to no one, and someone who wants to be in office for life? The rationale is beyond me, even with a gift of gold tennis shoes and autographed bible, I cannot imagine why anyone would support such a politician. Show me one other country anywhere in the world where the populous buys in to such BS.

The quote attributed to Lincoln is spot on, “You can fool some of the people all the time, and fool all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.“

Unfortunately, the biggest issue facing the US is not Trump but what will it take and how long will it take to repair the damage done by followers of Orangeman. Think about this for a perspective on time to make change – some states are still fighting the Civil War 150+ years after it ended. And the effort to revert to the Civil War era seems to be increasing.

Arizona, for example, wants to reinstate an abortion ban that became effective in 1864 when Arizona was a territory. The ban was implemented almost 50 years before it became a state. The Board of Regents of the North Carolina University system wants to eliminate all personnel positions and any program associated with making the student population more diverse, admission more equitable, and programs more inclusionary. Read that effort as the Regents want only white faculty and students at the premier universities, except, of course, black students who can play football and basketball. Other blacks should attend state HCBU’s. Numerous other examples of states taking away rights are available.

This coming week should be telling about how steep the challenge and the time required to begin repairing the country. Key issues include the Trump trial in Manhattan, another civil procedure beginning against Trump, SCOTUS hearing oral arguments about Trump‘s immunity from prosecution. Why SCOTUS is even entertaining such a discussion is beyond what I would consider reasonable.

Another high-profile issue will be likely efforts by right-wing Republicans to oust Speaker of the House Johnson. Why? Because Johnson had the temerity to work with Democrats to pass legislation to protect US security and even worse, pass legislation to provide arms to Ukraine.

What’s wrong with helping Ukraine fight Russia, which is trying to occupy Ukraine? Simply that Trump is still upset with Zelenskyy who wouldn’t bend to Trump’s wishes as part of Trump’s payback to Putin for helping with the 2016 election. No matter how illogical Trump’s behavior and no matter how the behavior endangers national security, if Trump doesn’t like it, Republicans don’t like it.

No new news that the US Congress has clearly become dysfunctional. Thanks in part to Trump, but only in part. Republicans have been willing enablers. Broken organizations take a long time to repair, especially when the executives of the organization – the Executive and Legislative branches — are elected.

Enough depressing news for this entry. There is hope that we can begin to repair our dysfunctional democracy. But likely more chaos first. Let’s see what happens this week. END #506

#505: Looney Tunes Wants to Reign

19 Tuesday Mar 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Causes of the Revolution, Possible Solutions, Post Trump Presidency, Societal Issues, Uncategorized

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BEGIN #505: Writing entries for this blog has allowed me to analyze and address a range of topics. Virtually all topics have been related to a possible 5^th US Revolution, the Revenge Revolution. The past six months, and especially since the beginning of the 2024 calendar year, finding a topic other than the absurdity of the behavior of Trump and the Republican lemmings, has been difficult.

While not alive during the period, the statements by Trump must be similar to that of the days in the 1930’s in Germany leading up to Hitler’s election and the early days thereafter. The similarities go beyond Trump using the same words or phrases as Hitler. The similarities include absolute brainwashing of a substantial part of the population who cheer Trump’s every move.

In addition, Trump and allies, much like Hitler, are openly attempting to destroy all checks and balances in our democracy – at the Federal, state and local levels. Trump is open about wanting to be a dictator and his supporters seem excited about having someone as president who can “fix all the problems in society.” Part of the “ultimate solution” being espoused by Trump is to deport, or maybe to destroy, all people other than those whose heritage is white western European. “You know, we need to get rid of ‘those people’ who are poisoning the blood of true Americans.”

During political rallies Trump salutes and praises the January 6 insurrectionist, vowing to pardon them if elected. He also recently claimed that any Jew who didn’t vote for him must hate Judaism and Israel.

Unfortunately, the Trump insanity will continue to escalate as the campaign continues and key Republicans and many Christian leaders bow down to their replacement god. Maybe the logo of the Republican Party should become the golden calf – maybe an orange calf would be more appropriate.

The next few months will be a severe test of the US legal system. Trump has lost significant civil cases with substantial penalties – E. Jean Carroll, $90+ million, and the fraud case in New York State, $500+ million and counting. He also faces a plethora of criminal charges in Manhattan and Georgia.

Executing judgments from these cases and protecting people who have been involved, even innocent jurors and law clerks, will be difficult. Few well-trained mental-health professionals doubt that Trump is mentally unhinged. The execution of the legal judgments – loss of financial assets and possibly some jail time – will put him in the total looney-bin category.

Executing the judgments likely will also unleash a number of supporters who will try and take revenge on the public and politicians. January 6 was a mere rehearsal.

My view and hope is all the turmoil around Trump gets resolved before the election, and certainly before the inauguration. The only solution to avoid widespread chaos and attempted retribution is to ensure that Trump is not able to takeoff office, should he be elected. “That’s all folks!”

More in future entries. END ENTRY #505

#504 Remembering Ed Roberts, Professor at MIT

04 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Innovative Thinking: Ideas and Products, Personal Stories, Uncategorized

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BEGIN #504: This entry is a bit unusual. Recently Ed Roberts, a professor from days at MIT, died. Ed taught a class in “Systems Dynamics.”

For those not familiar with systems dynamics, the concept seems remarkably simple and obvious, almost naïve. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Once you begin applying the approach to other than the most simple problems, you begin to realize how powerful the idea is.

I confess not fully appreciating what Ed taught until after leaving MIT and being faced with solving a host of complex problems. Using systems dynamics allowed me to help guide development and introduction of a number of high-profile ideas and products.

My thanks to Ed and others who helped develop, refine and teach systems dynamics. The balance of the entry is an excerpt of a note from the Sloan School at MIT about Ed.

Subject: Remembering Professor Ed Roberts

Dear MIT Sloan Community Members,

We write with great sadness to share that Edward Roberts, longtime faculty member of the MIT Sloan School, passed away yesterday. Our thoughts are with his wife, Nancy, and his children, Valerie and her husband, Mark Friedman, Mitchell and his wife, Jill, and Andrea and her husband, Marc Foster. We are also thinking about Ed and Nancy’s nine grandchildren, as well as Ed’s extended family and many friends.

In the sixth grade, Ed wrote a paper about his intention to attend MIT and become a civil engineer and build bridges. In high school, he shifted focus – though he still planned to attend MIT, he hoped to be an electrical engineer and get involved with a mysterious new technology, the computer. Ed received his SB and SM in Electrical Engineering, his SM in Management, and his PhD in Economics from MIT. He was a member of MIT Sloan’s faculty for over sixty years serving as the David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology and a Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management.

A long-time expert on entrepreneurial endeavors, Ed wrote the two “bookends” on high-tech business creation and growth. His latest, Celebrating Entrepreneurs: How MIT Nurtured Pioneering Entrepreneurs Who Built Great Companies (Amazon, 2020), describes the history of MIT’s transformation into an entrepreneurial juggernaut, led by Ed over a 50+ years period. Ed’s much earlier Entrepreneurs in High-Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 1991), was the first book on entrepreneurship based entirely on extensive research studies of hundreds of entrepreneurs and their firms. Over the course of his tenure at MIT, Ed became known as the father of entrepreneurship here, ultimately founding and chairing MIT’s entrepreneurship center, now known as the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. He also chaired the MIT Management of Technology (MOT) Program. Most recently, he co-created the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation Certificate program. As important as his research and academic leadership at MIT, Ed supported thousands of MIT and Sloan student entrepreneurs.

Ed was not only a prolific member of MIT’s faculty but also an entrepreneur himself. He served as a co-founder, board member, and angel investor in many high-tech startups. Among many others, he co-founded Medical Information Technology, Inc., a leading producer of healthcare information systems, Sohu.com, Inc., China’s first Internet firm, and Zero Stage Capital Equity Funds, a group of venture capital funds investing in early-stage technology-based firms.

Ed will always be remembered at MIT Sloan as a campus pillar. He could be found walking the halls, visiting faculty, staff, students, and alumni at the school, and sharing with them parts of the history of MIT Sloan. He remained connected to generations of MIT entrepreneurs, offering advice and guidance as companies were launched. Those of us who knew Ed count ourselves lucky to have had his counsel and will miss him dearly.

With both sadness and deep appreciation for all that Ed brought to our MIT Sloan community…END ENTRY #504

#503. Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ on Me?

18 Sunday Feb 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Causes of the Revolution, Post Trump Presidency, Societal Issues, Uncategorized

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BEGIN ENTRY 503: Poor little Donnie. Nobody likes him and they’re all out to get him. That bad ol’ Judge Engoron told Little Donnie to pay about $400 million for fraud in NY State. Can you imagine? Trump made NY the mecca that it is. Then Engoron banned him from running the Trump Organization. How dare the judge!

And that E. Jean Carroll woman. What a grifter. Donnie never knew her. Besides she was not his type, even though he thought Carroll was his second wife, so maybe she was his type. Anyway, Carroll soaked him for about $90 million of his hard-earned money. So, so unfair.

Oh, those other people who are just piling on. Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA, is going around bragging about how he’s going to get Donnie for paying some porn star hush money, then supposedly lying about it. According to Trump, “I’m not guilty of anything. Going to bed was her idea.“

And that that woman in Georgia, Fani somebody. Why she slept with a guy who she works with. That’s unthinkable. That should be cause for dismissing the entire case against me. Sleeping with a coworker is far worse than trying to rig an election.

As far as Smith, you know that Jack guy. “What a loser. He’s made up everything about me having some kind of erection, I mean insurrection.”

For the MAGAts still enamored with Trump, wake up. Trump has been an a-hole his entire life. He has consistently lied, cheated and stolen from vendors among other people. Anybody who’s spent any time living or working in New York knows his behavior.

And just as a reminder MAGAts, if you want to Make America Great Again by returning to the 1950s, remember that in the 1950’s the maximum marginal income tax rate was 70%, there was conscription, and Russians were the bad guys. Is that what you want to return to? More exciting news from MAGAt land in the weeks ahead.

What does this entry have to do with US Revolution V, the Revenge Revolution? Trump and the loyal MAGAts are bent on installing the Donald as a dictator. The MAGAts apparently are too stupid to understand what a dictatorship means for the country and for them individually. As noted in several other entries, MAGAts seem to have been brainwashed. Just why and how, time will tell. In the interim, the MAGAts should be viewed and treated as an imminent and significant threat to the well-being of the US. END ENTRY 503:

#502. The Kids Want the Donald Institutionalized

04 Sunday Feb 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Post Trump Presidency, Stupid Is as Stupid Does, Uncategorized

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BEGIN #502: In a filing in state court in New York, Erik Trump and Don, Junior asked the court to institutionalize their father, at least temporarily and ideally permanently. During the hearing, the judge asked for more explanation.

Eric responded, “The old man can’t keep his mouth shut or be honest with the company’s books. As a result, his runaway mouth is going to end up forcing the company to be liquidated and our financial well being along with the liquidation.

The judge asked if Ivanka Trump had joined the motion to institutionalize their father. Junior replied, “She’s frustrated with his behavior, but not part of the filing. She believes she’s protected financially because of her marriage to Jared.”

During the hearing the judge asked if recent judgments against their father and the Trump Organization would be exceed the cash assets of the company. Noted were judgements in the E. Jean Carroll case totaling roughly $90 million and the anticipated judgment in the New York State fraud case of likely $370 million and possibly $500 million. The judge questioned whether a judgment of about $500 million would be catastrophic since their father claimed in a recent court deposition that he was worth at least $3 billion, if not more.

In response to the judge’s inquiry, Eric laughed and explained to the judge that the company had substantial debts and that cash flow was limited and declining. The company will have little or no cash after these judgments are paid. Further, because of the continuing decline in cash flow, it was not certain the company could operate. Eric added, “Without institutionalizing the old man we’re likely to see even more fines and judgments and more cash out the door.”

The judge indicated he would consider the motion and issue a ruling in mid-February, likely the 14^th. Former President Trump was not present or even represented at the hearing. Whether intentional or an oversight by counsel was not clear.

Trump and the ever-changing legal team were preparing for the upcoming trial about illegal hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star. The case is being prosecuted by the Manhattan’s DA office and scheduled to begin March 24.

Stay tuned. [Yes, I know the story is fake news but the substance is correct.] END ENTRY #502

#501 Quotation Marks Are Killing Education

23 Tuesday Jan 2024

Posted by Jordan Abel in Education Issues, Uncategorized

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BEGIN ENTRY #501: Back after a couple of weeks off. An article in the New York Times 01/14/2024 discussed the emerging battleground in education is focused on to what extent academic papers have proper attributions and citations. You know that those people — the left-leaning academics — have no new ideas and are constantly plagiarizing information.

Yes, there are some people who don’t cite properly. However valid the discussion, the hype seems blown out of proportion. Many of the alleged “significant” instances of plagiarism are minor oversights. Writing an academic paper can be grueling, especially for those not schooled in all the requirements. In my thesis at MIT, no doubt there are a couple of instances where I failed to make a proper citation or attribution. I hope not, but given the time crunch, and the relatively young age, I might not have appreciated the importance of doing so.

Right-wind politicians are having a field day by “outing“ so-called progressive academics who have failed to site properly. An example is Bill Ackman, a wealthy hedge fund manager. Ackman has been a critic of Claudine Gay since she was installed as president of Harvard. What makes Ackman qualified to evaluate another’s academic credentials remains a mystery. But like some people with money, Ackman feels qualified to comment on issues he knows little or nothing about.

Since all’s fair in love and war, another group then found evidence that Ackman’s wife, a former MIT professor, had not properly attributed some passages in her PhD thesis. Her response was that in the 330-page thesis there were only 100 words or so not properly attributed. She apologized for the “oversight.”

Ackman, apparently satisfied that his wife had made an innocent mistake, but like all zealots unwilling to let things pass, then vowed to study the thesis and other academic papers of every professor at MIT to ensure there was proper attribution. Little Billy Ackman, go waste your time on something else.

In Ackman’s world, Martin Luther King should have stopped his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and noted that the “promised land” was first mentioned in Exodus, and that MLK’s remarks that he might not get to the “promised land” should have been attributed to Leviticus.

By right-wind standards, Trump in his speeches should attribute some of his remarks to his second-grade reader, and other remarks to his hero, Adolf Hitler. Of course, MAGAts have a separate set of standards for Trump.

Fair to say all academics should be a bit more careful about citations. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. If Republicans zealots had their way, there would be no academic papers, only gut feelings. An example is the effort by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who prior to dropping out of the presidential race, issued an order that allows certain school districts in Florida to ban that awful book first published by Noah Webster. That book called, yikes, a dictionary. Why ban Webster’s handiwork? Because the dictionary might contain words that would influence the behavior of school-age children.

Anti-education zealots go put on your big boy pants and realize one of the key policies that made America great and different than most other countries was a free, public education. A public education with a curriculum that taught children how to think. END ENTRY #501

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#500: Periodic Sense Check.

31 Sunday Dec 2023

Posted by Jordan Abel in Sense Check, Uncategorized

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BEGIN ENTRY #500: For a long time, I thought Entry #500 would be ideal for more analysis about the current status of US Revolution V. However, as we all experience occasionally in life, the best laid plans sometimes go astray.

Midmorning Christmas Eve I was walking back from Starbucks. All ok until the son of one of our neighbors decided to go driveway bowling. He used his BMW as the bowling ball and used me as the 10 pin. The only serious injury was to my right wrist which I used to break the fall from being hit. X-rays showed the wrist either fractured or broken in four spots.

Of course, the wrist is on my dominant hand, which makes typing slow and trying to write longhand laughable — at least for now. Oh well, dictation works so here are some thoughts about the Revenge Revolution.

US Revolution V, aka the Revenge Revolution, looks as though it’s already in progress. We’ve talked about how widespread in several different entries, but I think Trump‘s campaign effort for reelection and the promises made associated with that campaign are downright scary. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, you don’t need a presidential candidate out advocating elimination of the justice system, revising the constitution to allow the person to hold office for life and immunity from prosecution among other promises.
The Supreme Court continues to show no integrity, either as a court or by several justices on the court. The court has no enforcement other than through the Department of Justice and the various states justice systems. Without respect for SCOTUS from the public, the whole idea of a unified democracy goes away. The court does have an opportunity with the upcoming cases — (i) the 01/06 insurrection; (ii) Trump’s claim of absolute immunity; (iii) providing guidance for interpretation of the 14^th Amendment and application to state election laws – to begin at least stabilizing the decline in public opinion, and maybe begin rebuilding it.
A large percentage of the public seems to not understand consequences of their potential behavior. For example, a percentage of black voters, and I don’t know exactly what percentage, is frustrated with Biden, and to express that frustration, have decided to support Trump. Why would anybody who is black want to support Trump given all of his racist comments and actions against blacks? Also, some highly educated people whom I know seem completely brainwashed about what has happened, particularly around events leading up to and including January 6. A portion of this group asks, “why are all the prosecutors piling on Trump? He’s the right guy.“ Come on folks, he’s not the right guy. It doesn’t matter if he’s a Democrat or Republican, he’s a crook and has been a crook for a long, long time. Anybody who’s lived or worked in New York for any period of time knows that. Wake up!

Where does this lead us in 2024 and beyond? It’s going to get worse before it gets better. The discussions in earlier entries about the possibility of armed conflict seem more realistic today than ever before. Not a pretty forecast but I don’t know any way out of this quagmire without some sort of armed revolt and then the military putting down that revolt.

Talking and logic don’t seem to have any impact on people, particularly MAGAts. Republicans seem enamored with a bizarre interpretation of the 2nd amendment, which encourages mass ownership of assault weapons. Let’s save the gory details for later and try to enter 2024 with some degree of optimism. END ENTRY #500

#499. Critical Thinking. Uh, What’s That?

23 Saturday Dec 2023

Posted by Jordan Abel in Causes of the Revolution, Education Issues, Possible Solutions, Uncategorized

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BEGIN ENTRY #499: For many people, critical thinking is whether I like or agree with how the other person talks, acts or their political views. For this group of people, the world is binary – you either believe what I believe or you’re wrong.

A memorable example of binary thinking was after 09/11 when then President George Bush declared that the US needed to invade Iraq to capture the people responsible for the attack on the Trade Towers and the Pentagon. In those remarks, Bush proclaimed, “you’re either with us or for the terrorists.” According to Bush, there was no alternative.

Over the past two decades, such binary thinking – I’m right and if you don’t agree, you are the enemy – has become pervasive in the US. While the binary attitude is most noticeable in politics, especially among Trump MAGAts, such thinking seems to apply to simple everyday situations.

The current polarized environment has made it difficult to try and have a meaningful discussion about concerns over global warming. If the discussion includes expression of any concerns, then the next challenge is trying to develop and/or to agree on practical solutions.

Interestingly, the amount of formal education of participants does not seem to be a critical factor in whether a person thinks critically. The differentiator seems to be whether an individual understands their environment and whether he or she can solve problems influencing that environment.

Many people without formal education are astute at solving problems in their environment. People who are considered “street smart“ often have limited formal education. Indigenous peoples often have very limited formal education but have remarkable skills at surviving in often-harsh environments.

We all know people who are “book smart” but have no “street smarts.” Some of the book-smart people are also quite dogmatic about solutions to whatever problem is at hand, whether they are truly knowledgeable about the subject. Further, if they do not have a solution, they are good at blaming someone else, or claiming that the problem doesn’t exist.

Two recent examples. When I asked a business colleague if he had any concerns about the effects of global warming, he responded, “no.” His rationale was he didn’t feel any major impact in his daily life and, besides, the doomsday forecast about the effects of global warming made by Al Gore earlier in this century had not come true. Therefore, global warming was not real. Well, well, hello Fox News, which for this group has replaced MIT as the new science center.

The second example occurred in a different discussion about possible solutions to global warming. (The primary cause of global warming is a combination of CO₂ emissions and leakage of methane, the primary component of natural gas.) One participant in the conversation never addressed the primary sources of global warming but instead was emphatic that any solution to global warming must exclude nuclear power. Even though nuclear power has no CO₂ emissions and operates 24×7 for decades, nuclear must be excluded from any possible solution.

For him, nuclear was off the table and solar was on the table. Solar was not just part of the solution, but the only solution. To paraphrase Tarzan, “solar good, nuclear bad.” As with many non-critical thinkers, which seem to include a substantial portion of zealots, he failed to address all the downsides and extra costs associated with solar. Whereas neither solar nor nuclear is without some downside, but both are zero CO₂ and can help reduce the causes of global warming – but only if one thinks critically.

What has been the cause of the decline the critical thinking? I’ve not studied the issue in detail and my educational background and experience are far afield. However, I have observed behavior that might provide some guidance. The behavior could be heavily influenced by an education system that is putting too much emphasis on digital thinking and less on subjects that stimulate critical thinking.

As much as I love STEM courses, these courses reinforce digital thinking – most answers are binary, either right or wrong. Worse, the tools used for teaching entry-level STEM-type courses have become increasingly digitized. When was the last time you saw a cashier make change without having to use the register to calculate the amount? Or the last time you saw someone do division by hand? Or use a slide rule to make a calculation? You mean, you don’t need a calculator to complete these tasks?

Another example of the decline in critical thinking, which only occurred to me recently, had been a key part of 7^th or 8^th grade English classes – diagramming sentences. While the topic might seem arcane to today’s students, diagramming sentences teaches one how to deconstruct, or pull apart a problem – that is a sentence. Once apart then the sentence can be reconstructed or revised to achieve its intended purpose. By diagramming sentences, one learns there are multiple ways of conveying thoughts, even if some rules of grammar are rigid.

As far as the topic of the blog, how does the decline in critical thinking affect the effort to avoid US Revolution V, aka the Revenge Revolution? The Revenge Revolution has already started and will intensify over the next couple of years, especially in late 2024/early 2025. Any effort to initiate programs to try and teach the US adult population how to think critically will have little, if any, near-term effect on US Revolution V.

However, what we, i.e., societal we, can do is update the curriculum for primary, secondary and post-secondary education to include courses that teach people to think critically. Learning the basics of how to think critically can start in kindergarten and certainly early grammar school. The earlier the better that children get exposed to the approach. The teaching does not have to be complicated and can be geared to everyday situations students face.

For adults, we, again societal we, need to quit voting for candidates for the House, Senate and particularly president, who do not demonstrate an ability to think critically. Otherwise, we will end up without a democracy even more quickly than the track we are on. END ENTRY #499