Matthew Comments

Twenty-five years ago, I got a glimpse of Joe Biden's character. I think it’s beautiful and want to share it. When I was youn ger and wanted to kick back and relax, I would, of course, watch C-SPAN. What can I say? I was pretty cool. There was still some political grandstanding 25 years ago, but in those days Congresspeople sometimes actually tried to convince each other of things. It wasn’t just canned talking points. One day I saw Senator Joe Biden give a talk on the Senate floor. This was almost exactly 25 years ago. After I watched his talk, I had two thoughts: Why can’t a guy like this be President? He’s wearing his heart on his sleeve in this talk, and that kind of thing does not get you to the Presidency. So.. what was he talking about? This was after the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the USSR. The former country of Yugoslavia had essentially broken apart into smaller districts, and violence broke out along ethnic and religious lines. Biden had been to t...

This rant is making the rounds on the internet. The sentiment of the rant seems to be weariness with political and social conflict. Hey, I get it. I was born weary. But what is this rant really calling for? It markets itself as a centrist plea for compassion and community. I think it has a clear political slant and is more of a call for nihilism and disengagement. You decide. Here’s the rant. Afterwards, I’ll comment and go on a rant of my own. Here’s a warning: I have a little fun with my commentary and get a little snarky. If you don’t want to see that, hit your back button and move on with life. <> I don’t know who wrote this but SOMEONE FINALLY put into words what many of us have been thinking and I couldn't agree more! I’m tired of covid-19. I’m tired of blacks vs. whites. I’m tired of Democrats vs. Republicans. I’m REALLY tired of the media. I’m really tired of the wearing a mask debate. I’m tired of no one being allowed to think what they want & how they feel witho...

The philosophy of history that I was taught growing up could be best described as American Constitutional Hubris. That’s been the focus of history classrooms since World War 2. I was taught that there have been good ideas in history and bad ideas. Our ideas are the good ones, and that’s why we won. It’s never been that simple. There are strengths and weaknesses in Democracy, Republicanism, Capitalism, Socialism, Fascism, Communism, and all the rest. Each is vulnerable to evil in different ways. Most of the movements we think of as Fascist or Communist or Socialist or Democratic were themselves conglomerations of different ideas, none of them as purely good or evil as we like to think. The evil aspects of these ideas can evolve. They latch on to more noble ideas and twist them. Our own Constitutional Democracy is not as immune to this type of corruption as we like to think. Our naivety on that point is dangerous. Evil ideas assaulted our democracy head-on during World War II and the Col...

Our democracy is not only reliant on the words of the Constitution. It is reliant on countless rules and norms that have persisted through generations. When people in governance decide they must win at all costs, those rules and norms become loopholes for political advantage. It does not violate the letter of the laws of democracy, but it is undemocratic. Abusing the rules of governance  is an undemocratic method to achieve political victory. It is the theft of political power from people. When the people of a state elect a governor, they expect him or her to have the powers of the governor. In at least a couple examples, state legislatures have rushed to strip power from the office of the governor after elections because their party did not win. In Wisconsin, the leader of the legislature said this was necessary because the incoming governor “could not be trusted”, despite the obvious fact that the incoming governor had been elected by a majority of voters in the state. This is an...

America has changed over time. There were some strange forces that held us together, and kept power from being concentrated. Those forces have faded. Resources can be concentrated more easily, and the political parties have less in common. (For that story, read the prior three posts.) As should be expected, each party has made strategic choices in response to those changes, and each choice influences the choices that come later. Both parties have contributed to American greatness. Both parties have great ideas to offer. Both parties have some bad actors. Both parties “play the game”. But one party made a choice that sent it down a more undemocratic path.  It's not because people are bad or crazy. But each choice leads to the choices that come later. Let’s look at five [5] examples of undemocratic practices. Before I begin, let me be clear. I'm not  confusing democracy with our democratic republic. I understand we’re not an absolute democracy. When I say “undemocratic”, I mean ...

In America’s first 100 years, political life was strange. Slavery was the ultimate wedge issue. It united the South. Although Southern politicians may have diverged from each other on any number of issues, they circled the wagons when it came to slavery. They were in a constant war with black equality. Think about what war does to political life. Think of the national mood after 9/11. When people feel there is a threat to their "way of life", other aspects of political life become more flexible. We may have a little disagreement about taxes, but those people are attacking our way of life! This war-like footing in relation to slavery was a political strangeness. This political strangeness persisted until the Civil War. After the Civil War, of course… it became even more important. Prior to the Civil War, the subjugation of blacks was explicit federal government policy. It did not require nuance or obfuscation. After the Civil War, black oppression required even more cross-par...

The alarmist argument is: “Hey, things are different, and they’re heading in a dangerous direction.” The anti-alarmist argument is: “No, things have always, or at least often, been this way. The parties always say bad things about each other. Politics have always been ugly.” The anti-alarmists have a point if you contrast the political drama of two recent eras. When Obama was President, he was taking us into a faithless state-controlled future and the sky was falling. With Trump as President, he is taking us into a truthless xenophobic aristocracy and the sky is falling. The parties are squabbling, and they have always squabbled, so get over it. I take the anti-alarmist point seriously. I’m making a case that things are different, and that some fundamentals in America have shifted. We're losing one special advantage that made democracy work. American political life has also become more normal, but normal in a destabilizing way. I'll start with the special advantage that we'...

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.  --  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My hero, Dr. King, was wrong about justice. I love Dr. King. His writings and speeches are collected in a book called “A Testament of Hope”. That book was a revelation for me. Dr. King had a moral clarity that is rare in this world. Many of his observations were accurate, wise, and timeless. But the ‘arc of the moral universe’ statement is misleading. We are promised no such experience in this world. In Dr. King’s time, the quote may have been both accurate and wise. King saw the expanding reach of national newspapers and television networks. When the nation, through that new media, was exposed to the reality and brutality of overt Southern racism--then the nation, which believed it shared a common and decent morality, imposed that morality on the South. While Dr. King’s understanding may have been both accurate and wise, it was not timeless. This is where my moral hero comes u...

This meme makes me sad. It takes a cheap shot at both climate scientists and meteorologists. I call it out here because of the mockery. It bypasses rational thought. It discounts science without having to engage in any reasoning. The laugh-till-you-cry faces emphasize the attitude you should have toward 'those people'. It’s important to note the impact these memes have on social interactions. They discourage actual discussion on these topics. Someone posts a meme that mocks a person, position, or party, and any friend who disagrees knows what topics to avoid. I'm offended by a cheap shot at meteorologists. Meteorologists have an immensely difficult job, and the predictions they make about events like hurricanes are amazing by any measure. Fifty years ago, people found out about hurricanes when the hurricane showed up. Now we have days to prepare, to board up windows, and to evacuate entire areas. Meteorologists save lives. Have you ever tracked a hurricane projection in the...

This Harden/Jordan meme makes me so happy. It is a classic illustration of a meme, and it is a classic illustration of propaganda. Memes are teeny blips in the broader world of propaganda, but they are simple and direct examples of propaganda. Propaganda is designed to bypass rational thought. It triggers emotional responses before we have a chance to think things through. When our emotional systems have already been pushed in one direction or another, our thinking systems almost always follow in the same direction. Memes go straight for our emotions. Look at the Harden/Jordan meme. The Jordan picture shows an intricate, difficult task--Jordan with both hands on the ball, and the defenders swarm around him--arms up, eyes up. The Harden picture is the opposite--two clowns could not do a better job of mocking a basketball moment. The defender leans in awkwardly, hoping to draw a charge. Harden flails, appearing to look straight up in the air as he begins his shot. It is well-designed to ...

Two years ago I listed my recommended podcasts. Here’s an updated list. Guide: Asterisks are meant to show how timeless the episodes are. One asterisk (*) means the last year or so is likely still relevant.  Three (***) means you could (or should) start from the first  episode and it would still be relevant. The number two (2) means they were also on my list two years ago. I don't necessarily listen to every episode, especially for podcasts that do different topics or different guests (like Vox, Spycast, Hidden Brain). You can’t really skip episodes for serials (podcasts that tell a story, like In the Dark). Tiers are based on a combination of quality and personal preference. Tier 1 In the Dark *** [Crime podcast. Start with season 1. This show is amazing.] Revisionist History *** (2) [Malcolm Gladwell's podcast. First couple seasons were outstanding. The most recent episodes are just ads for Gladwell's other projects.] I Spy by Foreign Policy *** [Fun stuff....

I read a lot when I was young. I started writing. I dreamed I might write like Hemingway someday. I got good feedback from teachers at school. Writing seemed easier for me than it was for other kids. When I went to college, I started as a Journalism major. I got a job at the college newspaper and was assigned some stories. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know how to prepare, how to interview, how to investigate, or how to structure information. I had never written with such tight constraints and quick deadlines. I worked hard to finish stories, only to have them come right back for major revisions. The dream I had, that I was a great writer, suddenly felt foolish. A year later, I had largely given up on writing. My new college majors were Psychology and Advertising. I left writing behind. I had a ‘fixed’ mindset about writing skills. “I’m a really good writer.” I possessed a special skill; all I had to do was apply my talent and I would shine. When the challenge level in...

I love teaching. I often see with an educator’s eyes. As a parent, my style tends toward the coach or teacher. In my career in the corporate world, I still find opportunities to teach. I designed and ran a series of spreadsheet trainings. We had a lot of staff who didn’t have any background or experience with it. I wanted to help them. One of the first slides looked like this: "A lot of people look at Excel, and this is what they see,” I told them. “But that’s not what Excel really looks like. It looks like this:” “It’s a toolbox. There are a lot of nice tools you can use. There are some tools you will not learn how to use. That doesn’t really matter. Find one tool, learn to use it, and then try another.” I was beginning my spreadsheet training with a statement about optimism. I knew some of them were pretty intimidated by the program. I was always a learning optimist. When I sat in the stacks at Briggs Library during my college days, I could read difficult material...