Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

Nice references! I believe people basically prefer democracies if they have a choice, and democracies will remain alive as long as the majority of the people (including judges, politicians, policemen, soldiers and journalists) support it and play by the democratic rules of the game. If the major

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

When the next Carr fire comes along, let them handle it their way. -Original Message- From: Friam On Behalf Of glen Sent: Friday, February 4, 2022 9:16 AM To: friam@redfish.com Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability Ha! That reminded me of this: Califo

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

Ha! That reminded me of this: Which reminded me of THIS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Shea#Controversies co-starring Ozzie Keznovich who sounds like an echo of Moty... California county on track to be run by militia-aligned grou

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

Let them gather in their Raqqa's and Aleppo's.. -Original Message- From: Friam On Behalf Of glen Sent: Friday, February 4, 2022 9:16 AM To: friam@redfish.com Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability Ha! That reminded me of this: California county on track

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

A Lefty "American Redoubt" eh? Cascadia vs Redoubt NM's neighbor and abusive ex-spouse, TX seceded from the US power grid long ago (never joined) and this week m

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

Ha! That reminded me of this: California county on track to be run by militia-aligned group https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/03/california-county-controlled-by-militia-group I don't feel too sorry for Moty because my character alert bells went off a bit while reading his words ... l

Re: [FRIAM] Double Master Function (was Re: bad covid story)

Well stated if (and!) densely packed. Your conception of F vs SF and invocation of Deutsch's "hard to vary" are the sorts of ideas I was trying to get to with the idea of emergent coherence vs literal consistency. I like the idea of broad coverage without giving up coherence... "if everythin

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

As Omicron was ramping up Joy Reid said something along the lines of “Is there a way to cut out a safe place to live these days [free from all the anti-vaxxer crazies]?” That resonated with me. I think that’s a plausible way how life could be in ten years. Some municipalities & companies, may

Re: [FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

This book review might provide an interesting complement: Specters of Fear and Executive Power https://www.lawfareblog.com/specters-fear-and-executive-power The parts about, e.g. the concentration of power in a party leader in Poland, a parliamentary hegemony as opposed to an executive one, arg

[FRIAM] Democracy in Name Only: endemic regime instability

Someone here is more likely than I to have actually read Ziblatt and Levitsky's How Democracies Die A recent article (behind a subscribe-wall) included the foll

Re: [FRIAM] Double Master Function (was Re: bad covid story)

Exactly. While I maintain hope that EricS will not think my question about CliFi and the possibility of progressive life without freezing out prior forms is simply the affections of a hopelessly ignorant, albeit hopefully lovable dog, I can't help but reject the idea that it's anthropocentric. A

Re: [FRIAM] Double Master Function (was Re: bad covid story)

I like the refinement you are gesturing at here, if I'm following.  I think that is what Zelazny did with his Amber stuff and the ideation of this whole (infinite?) milieu of  parallel worlds being held in the tension of Logos and Chaos. I haven't read any of this work in decades so I expect m

Re: [FRIAM] Double Master Function (was Re: bad covid story)

We had an argument about absurdist humor at the salon the other night. I argued that it was akin to the (false) distinction I learned about fiction awhile back, that there are 2 kinds: 1) ordinary people in weird context or 2) ordinary context with weird people. My stance was that absurdist hum