I do want to second a variant of one of Pieter’s comments here, and to ask a question:
> On Nov 10, 2024, at 12:01 AM, Pieter Steenekamp <piet...@randcontrols.co.za> > wrote: > > It will be fascinating to observe the outcome of the new Trump > administration, and I genuinely hope it won’t bring us the kind of > “interesting times” referenced in the old (supposedly) Chinese curse. While I > anticipate a mix of both positive and negative developments, it’s essential > to remember that there’s no objective way to compare this administration’s > impact to the alternate reality in which Harris was elected. Opinions will > naturally differ: one person might argue that Harris would have steered the > world in a better direction, while another could assert that Trump’s approach > was preferable. In the end, both viewpoints are subjective and speculative, > with each side needing to acknowledge that neither can claim a definitive > answer. One could (and I might) characterize the U.S. Democractic Party governance program as “deer in the headlights of the coming implosion of neoliberalism”, with the good-faith actors doing what they can around the edges. By roughly the same parameters, one could (and I certainly do) characterize the U.S. trump party (formerly Republican) governanance program as arsonist: break things because people will support you to do that, and steal what you can on your way out the door. I think there were at times Republicans like Bob Corker, who were clearly smart, pretty arrogant and domineering, but in the end holding some responsible positions, but those are largely gone now, replaced by people of other stripes. Various arguments that this is what the major decision is about come from the loss by all incumbent parties in the politico-economic “west” in the last election cycle, and the citation of price increases as the main driver. I heard (but didn’t remember all details) that over some interval (1970s to present?), U.S. stock-market valuations increased by 50x, while median wages increased by 1.14x. And when, confronted with complaints about price multipliers, economists answer that the inflation rate is back down, that is a clear act of bad faith for which I wish they could get clobbered, because it burns trust that we needed to do what we could do. (the footnote: a price multiplier from time A to time B is the integral of the inflation rate from A to B. When asked about the integral, if one answers about the integrand, that is bad faith, unless it comes packaged as “Yeah, we know this isn’t the problem, but it is something we can do, and better than letting the amplification continue.) If one entertains this as the choice, what one thinks of it depends on: 1. Whether one views the coming implosion of neoliberalization as inescapable; and 2. Whether in such cases one favors an accelerationist strategy. Questions about accelerationism would apply to Ukraine too if one took the premise that being overrun by Russia was certain. I am keenly aware that I cannot make good cause-effect arguments for any of these questions. So my question to the list is: has any of you read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Super-Imperialism-Origin-Fundamentals-Dominance/dp/0745319890 A work colleague with whom I was having a conversation about sanctions policies, history and consequences of reserve currency status and the control that comes with it (and whether China has any serious intention to take on that role) sent it. Many things about the history sound important enough that they are what we should be taught in schools (and obviously are not). Whether the book does a good job of explaining circumstances and how these choices get made, or is just written to support the point of view “Everything ever done by anyone in U.S. public office is Evil! and they are all EXACTLY The Same!!!!” which would be less helpful. I am too far behind to read it until I am put into hospice and have time, but should understand what I can of it. Eric .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
