Trust

Trust is the glue that binds a society, but can be also hinder or even stop its development if misplaced.

Conformity

A nonconformist will often find realization of nonconformist desires by forcing others to conform.  Thus do rebels become dictators.

Manipulation

See This Is How Manipulation Is Used in Today’s Product Design for a summary of techniques used to push sales.  These same techniques could be used for political campaigns and other forms of propaganda.

Seldom Defeat

Defeat is seldom more assured than when self-inflicted. But then what of martyrdom?

The Dying Days of Liberalism

Suggested reading: The Dying Days of Liberalism:How Orthodoxy, Professionalism, and Unresponsive Politics Finally Doomed a 19th-century Project

I think decadence is ultimately killing political liberalism.  However, social liberalism is still kicking, but its time will come.  It has become too reactive in terms of economics for anything else.  Economic insecurity is the bane of social justice.

At the same time, ravaged by the same decadence, social conservatism appears to be largely extinct.  Political conservatism is still a force, but will meet its final reckoning as well.  It's reactionary impulses cause it to ignore basic economic realities.  Economic insecurity is the bane of tradition.

Donald Trump, a thoroughly decadent public figure, embodies this overall downward trajectory.

More on Persuasion Analysis

See Trump’s Counter-Punch: A Persuasion Tactic.  Learn from the master of propaganda...

Emotional Spin

John Robb offers The Race to Weaponize Empathy to discuss emotional spin as applied to the news (beyond typical marketing).  "[People] see all facts within a social context and that context is identified by the emotional context attached to that fact."  In a fragmented society, people go to a news source to find out how to feel about a particular fact.  Hence, the uproar over "fake news" as the elite do not approve of those particular feelings.

The thought police have become the emotion police, which is much more difficult to control than simple access to information. (Hence, the desperation.  The result?  More fake news.)

But what about outright lies?

Persuasion Analysis

Why Clinton’s Slogans Failed (Hard): A Persuasion Analysis. Worth a read.

Broken

Being no fan of political parties, I enjoy mocking the losers (and winners, too).  As was true four years ago, I find it is more entertaining (to me) to do so in song:

More

If you lose to Donald Trump, you really deserve nothing but mockery.  How anyone can take Democrats for anything but corrupt and incompetent is telling.  For people who told everyone how "smart" they are, they really are not. I also find celebrity arrogance telling. They do not seem to understand their condemnation is an endorsement. I suppose it is all one can expect from people who surround themselves with lackeys and sycophants.

Images

An images may comprise/contain multiple symbols, thus making it something different than the sum of its parts.  Relationships are cause and effect.

Sand

Consciousness is more than just a heap of sand.

Back At It

It's been awhile since I've lasted posted but I will be getting back at it soon.  After changing jobs, which may or may not be related (since I am less disgruntled), I have been busy with my new sound lately, which combines punk with jazz themes, which I call "Punk Jazz" (which is really neither).  I've been releasing a song (or more if different versions are involved) a week or so since September, which is pretty darn prolific for me.  The adapters for my guitar pedals broke, so I could no longer produce my usual nonsense, and I actually tried playing for once.

Here's a sample:

In general, the vocals are my first or second attempt at writing the song lyrics, which is sort of like scat but not with the skill.  I really do not have the finger dexterity to do better with stringed instruments, and drums are just too fucking loud (and most drummers are insane), so I produce percussion effects on a synth (which is more about timing than skill).  I can write real music if I try, but it would sound much better if skilled musicians played the parts.  I know how to play multiple instruments, but I am certainly no master at anything.  I have learned DIY for sound engineering.  I suppose I am a song writer and engineer more than anything.

Lately I've had more fun with music than the printed word, but I am beginning to run out of steam (after writing and producing an album's worth of songs in about 8 weeks--the time was better spent than paying much attention to the elections anyway).

Hear more at Drunk And Armed.

Broken

Everything is Broken is one of the better written explanation concerning the massive security contained within pretty much every computing devise, but fails to mention the one method that will protect your data on your computing: pulling the plug.  If you are not connected, you can't be hacked.

Political Nihilism

"Here is the ultimatum of our camp. What can be smashed must be smashed; whatever will stand the blow is sound, what flies into smithereens is rubbish; at any rate, hit out right and left, no harm will or can come of it."

-Dmitri Pisarev
Russian Nihilis
Link

Chinese Propaganda

After a long hiatus...

China says its propaganda just isn’t strong enough caught my eye.  It seems that not enough people in China are believing whatever the Communist Party is pushing these days. I find it amusing that a country that has embraced capitalism (albeit state controlled) is still pushing Marxism at its universities. It is interesting that China had one of the few governments left standing that still refers to "propaganda" when elsewhere the term has a negative context.  I also noted the article said nothing about the impact of so many Chinese being educated abroad.  Does this mean, when their efforts fail, they will prevent students from going to foreign colleges and universities (which was the case right after the Tienanmen Square movement was crushed).