During a visit to ABQ to dedicate the microcomputer exhibit at the ABQ Museum of Natural History and Science, Paul Allen denied the truth of the often told anecdote of why Microsoft left ABQ. He told the special student question and answer session we put together that at the time when he and Gates were forming Microsoft, they had already left NM and were in CA. There was no reason for them to return to NM since NM lacked the pool of talent they needed. To me that last point is the one that should concern Economic Development. The way the anecdote is often told, the blame is put on the banking/investing community rather than our inability to a sufficiently large pool of technical talent.
Ed __________ Ed Angel Founding Director, Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory (ARTS Lab) Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, University of New Mexico 1017 Sierra Pinon Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-984-0136 (home) an...@cs.unm.edu 505-453-4944 (cell) http://www.cs.unm.edu/~angel On Jan 22, 2012, at 9:08 AM, Steve Smith wrote: > Eric - > > I appreciate your thoughtful analysis of the question... FRIAM is prone to > deep dives (relatively) into answers without necessarily looking carefully at > the questions. > > Nick - > > I also salute your engaging (participating) with Occupy. I'm supportive of > the movement but not particularly motivated to do more than wave happily as I > drive by any public event. I'm glad you have found a way to help and I hope > someone else can pitch in and help you. Often the shape of the negative > space is as informative as that of the positive. What is this lack of > involvement by the technorati of Santa Fe? Are we too comfortable? > > I believe that the *general* occupy movement actually negates the popular > assumptions/statements about "getting involved". The illusion that we do not > deserve to have an opinion unless we are getting involved, having strong > opinions, even voting. I'm afraid we *do* deserve our opinions (and even > their expressions) at any level of involvement, thus Occupy's unwillingness > to be reduced to any simple set of demands. This is not to say that those > who do vote, who do stand in the streets or sit on the lawns or wave the > signs, or sadly even those who throw rocks and bottles and overturn police > cars, do not deserve their opinions. > > Remembering the slogan of the 60's "Power to the People" and juxtaposing it > with a good friend's assertion "Power doesn't corrupt, it IS corruption" > suggests that as "we the people" wrest power from "them the enemy" we should > be ever vigilant to not take more power than is intrinsically our own. It > is surely as heady to drive the police from the square, or pull down a > despot's statue, or jam up business for a day or a week or a month, as it is > to win a major election (or better to steal it). > > We have at least two examples of effective retaking of power (and then not > immediately becoming the next despot) in Gandhi and in Nelson Mandela... so > I'm not without hope for us. Occupy, as well as even some of the more > violent groups in the Arab Spring has at least some of this tenor. I > believe that while it may take great conviction and effort to retake the > power we have lost (no, not lost, *given*) to the despots of wealth (don't > forget many of us are part of some percentage significantly greater than 50% > in our populations, US or elsewhere, if not 99% exactly) and of political > power, it takes greater amounts to do it humbly and with care to maintain the > ideals we started with. > > Pamela - > > I was not surprised that New Mexico uses tax incentives to lure and keep big > businesses in the state. It is anecdotal in State Economic Develop circles > that had we been more progressive about that Microsoft would still be in ABQ. > I don't think retail businesses like WalMart are as appropriate for such > incentives, however. I vote against WalMart by not shopping there (and > choosing local over big-box national as often as possible which for me is > nearly exclusively). I'm not sure, but it is likely that Target, Lowes, > Best Buy, etc. have similar if not equal tax breaks to WalMart. The Movie > industry incentives go beyond lower tax rates, and most progressives applaud > that. The message and situation is not simple. I admit to at least > enjoying the sight of my own backyard in virtually every western movie made > today... and knowing that some of my friends and colleagues can find work in > NM that would otherwise require them to live in LA. > > Arlo - > Thus Occupy served as a forum, rather than an organisation or individual or > faction or party to be ignored, or cynically considered. Indeed, I have > rarely heard even opponents of the movement describe it in terms of being > untrustworthy - it just does not apply to this kind of social structure. The > criticisms have concerned whether or not Occupy will fail in it's goal of > popularising social change. > While it may be just lust for revolution/rebellion, it is not produced > restlessly or without forethought. > Exceedingly well said, thank you for this articulation. > > Jochen - > > What a superbly negative view of the meaning and relevance of life! I share > your opinion of professional sports and am mostly sympathetic about the > highest profile politicians. Unfortunately I cannot go as far toward > Neitzscheistic Nihilism as I hear coursing through your assessment. > > I do agree with the relativism of any given bit of politics... that to you in > Germany, Santa Fe's roster of City Councilpersons, or even NM's Governor is > of little concern and I presume interest. I would presume that the US choice > of leadership of the legislative (through majority) branch and of the > executive branch of our government and subsequently the direction of steerage > of this Leviathan we call the US government and economy *is* a bit more > relevant, as is our sometimes interest in the affairs of Europe, of the > former Soviet states, and of China, Korea and Japan, not to mention, India, > Pakistan, the Arab countries and subsaharan Africa. > > > > All- > > What follows (surprise!) is not exactly more *careful* analysis to add to > Eric's and the rest but in that vein, my usual folksy anecdotal reflections > on the topic and questions it raised for me: > > I was far from a Young Republican during the era of civil unrest and reform > of the sixties, but more likely a Young Libertarian (dog eared copy of Atlas > shrugged in the pocket of my worn, wide bottomed jeans held up by my handmade > belt and covering my handmade moccasins)... so I supported the principles of > free speech and individualism, but looked down with disdain on the way a lot > of the popular movements of the time just looked like a big party among > middle class youth without anything better to do. For those who have told > their stories of resistance against the monster that was the Vietnam War, I > have my own, too torrid to tell (even) in this forum. Just ask, I will not > be shy. > > Age and experience (mostly through the lens of hindsight) have allowed me to > appreciate the effects and motivations of those times (if still not always > the methods or individual actions). This perspective allows me to look on > the current Occupy movements (and the much more engaged and risky > activities across the Arab world this year... <nod to Mohammed El-Beltagy in > Cairo>) with a great deal more generosity and even hope. My (now 32 yr old) > daughter left the MoveOn movement around the 04 election very disenchanted > for similar reasons to the ones I quote for my own jaundiced view of the 60's > into the 70's. > > When Occupy stood up (or sat down?) I feared it was another flash-in-the-pan > expression of anger/resentment/agitation that would either flash to petty > acts of defiant violence or sputter out after the first cold night. It's > breadth, depth, and refusal to be pinned down on a specific set of demands > has really impressed me (but no, Nick, I still don't expect to pitch in much > more than I have, also being old, lazy, and claiming ADD whenever asked to > focus for more than 12 seconds on anything less personal than my own navel, a > remunerative task at hand, or a juicy Friam thread to be milked into > senselessness). > > Occupy almost lost me when they took up the cry of "we are the 99%", because > my cynical-analytical brain immediately asked "99% of whom?" and by rule of > thumb suspected that 99% of those Occupying are actually part of the 1% when > placed against the world population. Fortunately, I also was feeling > expansive and generous and believe that most of the self-described "99%" out > in the streets would acknowledge this fairly easily and if "we" ever took > back more of the control of our economy and political system, might even > remember that they were no longer "us" and had become "them" (again) to the > larger world system... and maybe take whatever appropriate action the 1% > *should*. It is precisely this kind of humbling that I believe is required > for real change to occur. > > I also flashed quickly to "why 99% ?" This seemed like a pretty arbitrary > number. Why not 99.9% or 98% or 90% even? Well... of course it is a nice, > round catchy number in our decimal number system, in the per-cent system even > moreso. It also brings attention to the power-law and self-similar systems > and structures many of us here are fond of studying (considering?). If > tomorrow the 99% dug a big hole and buried the 1% in it (I'm not advocating > violence mind you, just offering a strong image to make a point), would we > not truly just have a new 1% and a new 99% with the same (or similar) > inequalities (after distributing the 1% to the 99% either equally or > proportionally). If we changed the slogan to "we are the 80%" it would lose > it's punch but probably not it's central point. 20% of our population holds > an (even more) inordinate amount of control of assets and political power. > > I don't think this distribution is accidental and those (Eric?) who study > systems which exhibit power-law distributions by day can probably explain it > pretty easily. Pamela did a good job with her own folksy "those who have, > git". There are reasons that lots of systems demonstrate preferential > attachment and and compound interest. So, my inner curmudgeon always wants > to ask pointed questions like: "What if power-law distributions are > inevitable?" and "What if renormalizing the results of this have about as > much effect as trying to fill in an arroyo between rainstorms?". Not to > suggest too strong of an analogy with eroding landscapes, but what if the > solution to an eroding (eroded?) financial and political landscape is to > carefully study the myriad everyday things we do that have undermined the > complex ecosystem which formerly maintained a matrix of structure which held > the soil in place, and to remediate those things rather than demand that > those who own bulldozers come to our back yard and fill in the arroyo system > growing there? Or more to the point, for those who live on the delta where > the arroyo enters the river (BTW, I live near such a delta) and own dump > trucks (and own my own antique dump truck) to fill them and bring the sand > and silt back to the ravines forming up-arroyo. > > Of course, I'm not sure we've ever had a economic, political (or more to the > point?) social "Savannah" where all were equal and the many creatures (people > of all economic, social, ethnic backgrounds) roamed peacefully with plenty to > eat and little to fear, fat and lazy in the sun. It seems like a more > careful consideration of just what we propose this "Savannah" might look like > in the future (if not in the literal, real past) would be worthwhile. My > inner cynic may be showing through a little, and I really do want to curb > him. While I still acutely remember the moment that I realized that most if > not all fantastic literature was utopian or dystopian in nature, and then > even more acutely when I realized that utopias are always dressed up > dystopias (and examining cyberpunk, one could easily say dystopias are > dressed down utopias). > > I may be wrong in this (yet another) analogy, but I like to think of Occupy > (the larger movement) as being a little like a neighborhood watch group whose > response to rising nighttime street crime is to keep lots of bright > flashlights in their pockets and floodlights on their homes and respond to > sketchy activity simply by shining a bright light on it. It is a little > like focusing on the question rather than the answers. *somebody* may call > 911, or run out with their baseball bat or shotgun and intervene in the > particular activity of the moment, but the simple shining of a light on a > problem is amazingly powerful and facilitates the latter. > > The quote attributed to Nixon (or was it Kissinger?) that "if you don't have > a better solution, to keep your criticism to yourself" is generally accepted > as just plain wrong headed, but Occupy seems to defy it directly. My own > cynical self who generally eschews popular movements finds this one at least > tolerable if not actually palatable unto nourishing. I may not be able to > find a way to participate directly in "Occupy" but I know I will be sad if > they dry up and blow away. > > The closest I have to offer is a reaffirmation to "Occupy my own life". I > have only small hopes, but perhaps the millions who have lost their jobs, or > returned from war to none, or remain in school hoping some will emerge, will > find something better to do than sit around and wait for someone else to > solve their problems... that many will find entrepreneurial activities that > are self-generating, that fill small but viable niches untouched by corporate > America (or Europe or pan-Arabia)... that many will learn to prepare meals > from raw ingredients rather than whine about the cost of McDonalds or of > frozen Microwave meals... that some will plant rooftop or courtyard container > gardens instead of whining about the price of produce or lack of taste in the > perfect hydroponic grown tomatoes at their favorite upscale grocery... or at > least visit the farmers market where their neighbors are doing the same... > or turn down their thermostat 5 degrees and wear a sweater... or walk and > bicycle when they would otherwise have driven... > > I say "Occupy our own lives!" which for some means picketing in front of the > Round House or on a street corner perhaps, but for the rest, maybe it means > "pay attention, what you do matters". > > - Steve >> Disagree about politics vs. psychology, though they are deeply intertwined. >> >> And Nick, I salute you for your activism. Did NOT know that WalMart has a >> different tax rate than local businesses. Them that has gits. >> >> Pamela >> >> >> On Jan 21, 2012, at 2:35 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote: >> >>> Looks like you have lost interest in Psychology? Your book about the new >>> realists with Eric seems to be published, right? I guess it was called 'A >>> new look at new realism'. No other book in the pipeline? I think Psychology >>> is still much more fascinating than Politics. >>> >>> -J. >>> >>> Sent from Android >>> ============================================================ >>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >>> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> >> "The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go >> to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if >> this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?" >> >> J. B. Priestley >> >> >> >> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
