Hypocrisy rules, ok?

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“President Obama’s remarks about human rights to President Castro are best appreciated in the context of the US’s longest-running vacation camp on the island, where visitors get to wear orange jump suits and funky metal jewellery while listening to rock music. So select are the premises that not even top-ranking US citizens are seen residing there.”
Peter Scott, Elora, Ontario, Canada

The use of irony will not be appreciated by those who don’t understand irony (most of the deadly serious policy wonks in Washington). The writer nonetheless raises two excellent points, not lost on those with a passing knowledge of the contents of the US Constitution, not to mention historic American opposition to colonialism. If Americans genuinely want to restore healthy relations with Cuba they could start by opening negotiations with a view to handing over the penal colony called Guantanamo Bay to Cuba, and actually trying the captives there in a constitutional court of law. Even if the inmates were totally innocent, after years of such penal treatment you can guarantee that, once released, they are or will be dedicated terrorists. Has Guantanamo been a public relations disaster? Well, yes.

Conspiracy theories

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Apparently, there are still people that believe that the Earth is flat and that there is a conspiracy by NASA or other authorities to hide the fact.  Surveys also show that many people in the US believe that there was some kind of conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks, or, at least, that the US government is not telling the whole story. 

Our brains make us prone to seeing conspiracies, real or imagined.  When something big happens we tend to assume that something big must have caused it. And when something ambiguous happens, we assume that it was intended. When Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared we assume that someone planned it this way. 

Our personality type also affects whether we believe in things like the flat Earth theory. People who believe conspiracy theories tend to distrust received wisdom and the things that people in authority tell us. And our built-in confirmation bias means we look for evidence that supports our beliefs. This seems contrary to the Enlightenment and scientific values. But the Enlightenment was partly about not trusting received wisdom, thinking for yourself, and distrusting what you were told. (Precis of an article in New Scientist by Rob Brotherton,a psychologist at Barnard College, New York City who specialises in the psychology of conspiracy theories.)

What suspicions do you have?

Thought for the day

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“Why may not a goose say thus: “All the parts of the universe I have an interest in: the earth serves me to walk upon, the sun to light me; the stars have their influence upon me; I have such an advantage by the winds and such by the waters; there is nothing that yon heavenly roof looks upon so favourably as me. I am the darling of Nature! Is it not man that keeps and serves me?” (Michel Montaigne, Book II, ch. 12. Apology for Raimond Sebond)

Confusion reigns!

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There are currently two militias, supposed to be fighting Assad in Syria in the death zone between Aleppo, Marea and the Turkish border. They are alleged to be “moderates” and the US government is funding them both simultaneously. Their names are “The Knights of Righteousness” (truly!) and the “Syrian Democratic Forces”. But instead of fighting the government they have taken to fighting each other. The Syrian Democratic Forces have apprently been winning.

This might seem to us rational folk unbelievable, but The Knights of Righteousness have been armed and funded by the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Syrian Democratic Forces have been armed and funded by the Pentagon. So it seems,based upon the most recent battle in Marea, that the Defense Department have been fighting a proxy war with the CIA half a world away.

“Once upon a time, during the ‘good old days’ of the Cold War, we fought such wars against the Soviet Union and their allies. Now, we fight proxy wars between various departments of our own federal government, using your tax dollars to buy the bullets and the bombs”. (Adapted from a piece by William Rivers Pitt in Truthout, originally reported by James of Moon of Alabama).

Apparently, this is appears to be true but has been either “overlooked” or suppressed because large armament sales are obviously involved and need nurturing. Besides which, if it were more generally known it would make the United States look totally ridiculous, and would point up the more-than-strong suspicion that the military and the CIA are out of control, and doing their own thing, regardless of the policy devised by the Commander-in-Chief, poor fellow.

Those of us who have increasing doubts about whether it’s possible to “make America great again”, given the level of military competence, common sense and cultural knowledge of those who “lead” us, can recall the foreign policy of 19th Century Britain: “Never get involved in other people’s civil wars”. Or, just as apposite, the strong opposition of Epicurus to all foreign adventures. The election is unlikely to improve matters.

Renaissance  Florence and innovation; technical and artistic

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An article by Eric Weiner (hbr.org) on promoting innovation proposed that instead of trying to learn lessons from silicon valley, which he argues is too new to draw conclusions from, we should study Renaissance Florence and the Medicis. His prescription for success is as follows and draws from Florentine success:

 1. You need a patron: the Medicis found and sponsored Michelangelo, for instance. and invested in him. We need patrons, either very rich people, universities or local governments.

2.  Apprenticeships: We value youth as such too highly.  Young entrepreneurs should work with experienced people as apprentices on a long term basis (Leonardo was an apprentice for a full ten years). There are notable exceptions, but wading into something knowing nothing is not a recipe for success. The failure rate of start-ups would be reduced if people were properly trained (by the way, you don’t get properly trained taking a BA in Business or even in most business schools – business is very practical;just do it, but under guidance).

3.  Potential sometimes trumps experience: the Medicis chose a sculptor, Michelangelo to paint the Sistine chapel, not an obvious choice. But they saw his potential. Today, we usually choose people or companies who have done something similar before, and what we get is just that: something that has been done before. 

4. Be creative about disasters: they can shake up society and produce new ideas. Don’t restore; re-think completely. (e.g Florence, after being decimated by the Black Death).

5. Competition is disappearing in America with mergers and industry consolidation. The Federal Anti-trust Division of the Justice Department has stopped working.  Big money and lobbyists secure effective monopolies. If you want to “make America great again” re-introduce swingeing competition rules. 

6. Seek out and synthesize ideas from everywhere and anywhere: innovation involves a mix of ideas, some new, some borrowed, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Nowadays, big companies seldom innovate; they are too bureaucratic and arthritic. There are too many “rent-seekers”. All they know how to do is to buy up dynamic start-ups – and then they mess them up. Skype comes to mind – bought by Microsoft. Skype used to be quick and efficient (no passwords) and customer conscious, and is victim of corporate-think. Or, at any rate, that’s my opinion.