In 2013, political scientist Erica Chenoweth proposed the 3.5% rule, which argued that according to historical data from 1900 to 2006, whenever nonviolent protests against an authoritarian regime reached the tipping point of 3.5% of a country’s population, that government was almost always certain to fall. There was something about that number that created a tipping point that would go on to engulf the entire country and eventually cause regime change.
How I Learned To Hate AI
I had an almost immediate aversion to AI, right from the start. It wasn’t even rational at first; just a gut-level revulsion I couldn’t quite explain. Before I even understood its functional limitations, its unethical origins, and its insatiable energy needs, I instinctively knew it was wrong. First and foremost was the fact that it had been “trained” on the work of others, artists and writers like myself, without their consent or compensation, making it theft on a scale so grand we could barely comprehend it.
The Downside Of Fulfilling Work
Learning to keep at least some of your creativity for yourself Presumably, the ultimate accomplishment in life is getting to a place where you get paid to do the thing you enjoy doing the most. Nothing to complain about there, one would think. But as I find myself doing work…
Dreaming Of Tigers
“I’m not political.” This is something you often hear people say these days. If asked, they will admit that they don’t regularly watch the news or read the paper. They’re not closely following policy debates or the inner workings of government. They don’t follow media elites, read in-depth articles, or listen to podcasts on subjects considered political. Most people are simply not paying that close attention.
Searching For Originality In A Sea Of Slop
Even in the midst of mediocrity, there remains a path forward for true human originality through emotional intelligence. This is the wonder of art.
No Club Who Would Have Me
Groucho Marx famously said that he refused to join any club that would have him as a member, which is altogether funny, telling, and true. How many of us feel this way about a great many things? Desiring only the things we can’t have, and entirely uninterested in the things within our grasp. If we can achieve it, how good could it really be? If we were accepted, how low must the threshold have been?
The Power Of One
Maybe more impactful than the faceless throng in the streets chanting pre-packaged slogans is the solitary protestor, earnest, vulnerable, and alone.
Defiantly Daft, Duplicitously Dangerous
No one ever accused John Wayne of being an intellectual. From Daniel Boone and Wyatt Earp to Huey Long and George Wallace, there has always been a strong populist strain woven throughout our national mythology. Forget for a moment that any list of great Americans, from Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Frederick Douglass, contained a multitude of brilliant intellectuals.
The Risk Of Inflation In The Age Of Plutocracy
Inflation is a bitch. I think it might have been Adams who said that, or maybe it was Madison. I get them confused. One of the ones worried about giving too much power to the little people. It’s a crisis foretold from the very beginning, unfolding in real time before our very eyes. One day you’re a well-respected oligarch, with so many judges and politicians in your pocket that your friends call you Corleone, and the next, you’re being outbid by oil-rich foreign governments, multinational organized crime syndicates, and adolescent tech bros. What’s a humble plutocrat to do?
Everybody Loves A Good Bank Robbery
I’m a big believer that most ideas, even the good ones, don’t have a lot of value if you’re not willing to work on them. A lot of people think a good idea has some inherent value, some worth as a concept itself, but it does not. You cannot sell someone an idea for a movie without having to first write or make the actual movie. It’s always about the execution, never the inspiration. Ideas are a dime a dozen.