A new weekly newsletter with findings, practical wisdom, and interesting conversations from across the web, curated by yours truly.
Insights
Stories and ideas that shape our world and expand our understanding.
The Death of Serious Politics: A provocative take from Brian, one I… mostly agree with. I remember when we still focused more on policy— circa 2008 or so, but we also saw riveting tales like the “tan suite controversy” make their way through the media. Put another way: The trend away from substantive policy discussions began well before Trump and has likely more to do with 24-hour ‘news’ networks and social media. Trump is a symptom of the underlying rot slowly eating away at our civics, values, and institutions.
Your First Thought Is Rarely Your Best Thought: A fundamental interest of mine (how to think more effectively and make more effective decisions) and thought-provoking writing on the topic over at Farnam Street. We are all slightly overconfident in our conclusions, myself included. Let’s try not to be. Discard the first thought and reevaluate.
Ukraine is in a race against time to fortify its front line: Of late, reading about what’s happening in Ukraine is particularly challenging. The strong sense of solidarity I feel with the Ukrainian cause makes the failure to provide adequate support by the West against Russian aggression just… so disappointing, to put it mildly. One would think that with the US struggling to get its house in order, the EU would step in since Russia is literally right there. But no. To make matters worse, the chief obstacle appears to be the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Whether out of naivety, cowardice, or an arrogant belief that he’s channeling Bismarck by being an obstacle to supporting the budding Democracy, the man is causing actual harm to European security. Indeed, I suspect history is more likely to mind him as another Neville Chamberlain, trying to appease fascists by giving them other people’s land. It won’t work. The naivety(cowardice?) is almost enough to make one want to vote for the CDU next time around. Almost.
Contemplations
Meditations, philosophy, and the occasional restless thought.
“Right now, then, make it your habit to tell every jarring thought or *impression: “You are just an appearance and in no way the real thing.” Next, examine it and test it by these rules that you have. First and foremost: does it involve the things up to us, or the things not up to us? And if it involves one of the things not up to us, have the following response to hand: “Not my business.” - Epictetus
Dialogue
Voices, perspectives, and conversations from our community and across the web.
“Robert Hur is a partisan hack.” If you are a democrat, or at least sympathetic to the party or Biden, you likely had a similar thought cross your mind as I did, when news around the special counsels report came out, declining to prosecute him while describing him as an elderly man with a poor memory.. Then I listened to this interview, and… well. It changed my mind about both Hur and Biden’s potential guilt. It’s only 20 minutes long and well worth listening to. Let me know what you think. Why Robert Hur Described Joe Biden as an “Elderly Man with a Poor Memory.”
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