Long-Shot Beto | National Review

deadbilly:

Reading through all of these profiles as they emphasize the same points over and over again — He was in a punk-rock band! He skateboards! He’s handsome! He’s Kennedyesque! He speaks fluent Spanish! — one keeps waiting for the section that describes what makes O’Rourke actually unique among Democratic candidates. And that section never arrives. There is no hardscrabble climb out of poverty, no tale of military heroism, no running into a burning building to save orphans, not even an occasion of helping get an old lady’s cat out of a tree.

O’Rourke’s father was a well-connected judge and entrepreneur, and his mother ran a furniture store. He went to Columbia and formed a punk-rock band. He spent his initial post-college years “holding down a series of entry-level and temp jobs,” as Texas Monthly put it. Unhappy with life in New York City, he moved back to El Paso and eventually formed a company that managed websites.

It’s kind of cute and quaint that people are focusing on his career as a “punk rocker.” If this was 1978, or even 1988, it might have been something cool. But punk is kind of… well… safe and pedestrian these days. The first Ramones album came out 42 years ago. Black Flag’s Damaged is 37 years old.

In Congress, O’Rourke was little known until his Senate bid; he’s been the primary sponsor of just three bills that became law. One of them renamed a federal building in El Paso.

Which, is technically more than Obama ever did in the US Senate…

Long-Shot Beto | National Review

How Upending Its Assumptions Can Deepen Your Read Of Science Fiction

Ironically, however, the ability to analyze precisely, identify
underlying assumptions, and make careful distinctions is precisely what
you gain when you get a real education. Indeed, many very educated
people––Dorothy Sayers and John Henry Newman, to give two famous
examples––have remarked that the ability to make clear distinctions is
almost the definition of what it means to be educated.

It’s easy to see why: without such abilities, you simply aren’t able
to get beyond the level of ramming generalizations at one another until
someone gives up. And if the modern person is not equipped for it, then
tracing the subtle track of a discussion to get at the real core of the
argument is bound to be a dizzying endeavor. No wonder he complains of
semantics––he really has no idea how to navigate such a discussion.

Naturally, being able to analyze effectively, make careful distinctions,
and get at the deep assumptions of things are all invaluable for
confronting the truly overwhelming amount of information we are exposed
to daily. But something we often overlook is entertainment, which
contains its own kinds of deeper assumptions, although they are usually
hidden to one degree or another.

How Upending Its Assumptions Can Deepen Your Read Of Science Fiction

American Socialism through the Prism of Marxism

What
is socialism?  Who are American socialists, and what are they fighting
for?  Socialism is a political philosophy and economic system that
promotes egalitarianism – a theory of economic equality.  It is usually
defined as “common ownership of the means of production,” which is in
the ballpark of the definition given by Karl Marx.

Lenin
defined socialism as a society organized on the principle “from each
according to his abilities and to each according to his work
[contribution].”

But Barack Obama nailed it.  In his speech in Berlin, Germany on July 24, 2008, he declared:

“This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably.”

The
acquisition of this knowledge predisposed Obama to the recognition that
society does not necessarily require government ownership of the means
of production to implement the egalitarian dream.  As long as the
government controls the economy and is able to replace the free-market
capitalist economy with political economy, and subsequently control
profits, the objectives of socialism can be achieved.  Obama also
ascertained that in order to control the economy, the government needs
to control only three major sectors – health care, finance, and energy.

American Socialism through the Prism of Marxism

How Should We Read the American Press? In Arabic. – Tablet Magazine

Over the last several years, there have been at least three major
information operations run through the American media. There was the Iran deal, which premiered the echo chamber. Next was the Russia collusion narrative,
using many of the same echo chamber figures, media and government
officials, to try to topple Trump. The latest is Operation Khashoggi,
which is both pro-Iran and targeting Trump.

One of the main players behind this campaign appears to be a former
architect of Obama’s pro-Iran Middle East policy, Robert Malley. Now
president of the International Crisis Group, Malley has been arguing for months that the United States should cut support for Saudi Arabia’s war against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Thus, as the Washington policy establishment demanded punishment for Khashoggi’s disappearance and death, Malley gave their grief and anger form. He provided specific policy goals—punish the Saudis in Yemen. Eventually, others picked up Malley’s rallying cry, as here in The New York Times and here in a Washington Post editorial—“Editorial Board calls for a ban on all U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s bloody war in Yemen.”

To understand the nature of the Khashoggi campaign, it’s worth
comparing Malley’s policy points now to the argument he made more than a
decade ago regarding another Iran-related issue.

How Should We Read the American Press? In Arabic. – Tablet Magazine