Beyond Intractability in Context Blog
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Posts ordered from most recent to earliest.
- A story about what has been gained through compromise and what our stubborn unwillingness to compromise further is costing us. -- The Case For (Even More) Compromise -- Mar 04
- Rachel Kleinfeld discuss strategies for limiting extremism, strengthening American democracy, and containing political violence. She also explains why she mistrusts predictions of “civil war.” -- Rachel Kleinfeld on Why America Isn’t About to Have a Civil War -- Mar 01
- An update on the complex psychology of the cosmopolitan elite and the subtle and consequential ways in which they influence the rest of us. -- Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class—A Status Update -- Mar 01
- A critically important reminder of how dangerous the war in Ukraine has become. Somehow we have to find a way to prevent Russia's brutal invasion from succeeding, while also preventing a wider and much more catastrophic war. -- We are already at war with Russia -- Feb 28
- An exploration of why so many people in so many contexts have come to the conclusion that they can get away with most anything. And, a call for building the "countervailing power" needed to restore accountability. -- Our Age of Impunity -- Feb 27
- An alarming, nonpartisan report from the Congressional Budget Office shows just how far the abandonment of budgetary constraint has taken us. Is this, as Democrats claim, "sustainable?" -- Biden’s Federal Budget Blowout -- Feb 27
- From a Democratic perspective, a look at the deteriorating strength of their political coalition and proposed changes that could make it much more broadly attractive. -- Revisiting the Three Point Plan to Fix the Democrats and Their Coalition -- Feb 27
- A hopeful story about a sports team that is helping span social and political divides in ways that are helping reduce tensions. -- How Football Might Prevent Iraq's Next Civil War -- Feb 26
- An account from a person who found himself in the middle of Russian efforts to hire provocateurs to influence US elections and politics. -- How Putin's Russian goon squad used Mexican gig workers to troll an American election -- Feb 26
- A reassuring look behind the curtain (and the hype) surrounding the new AI chat bots. They are a long way from anything like artificial intelligence, but not so far from pretending that they have it. -- Bing and Google's chatbots are a disaster -- Feb 25
- A rare look at court-admissible evidence that documents the way in which the need to tell audiences what they want to hear is distorting news coverage -- a problem that is far more widespread than Fox News. -- Why Did Fox News Lie to Its Viewers? -- Feb 25
- In the context of the war in Ukraine a look at the extraordinarily consequential question of when to and not to negotiate. -- Russia and Ukraine Have Incentives to Negotiate. The U.S. Has Other Plans. -- Feb 24
- More on the debate over whether "objectivity" is the key to trustworthiness or whether it is an obstacle to be avoided. -- Bring Back Objective Journalism -- Feb 24
- Reflections on a path toward healing America that focuses on the plight of the many people (of all races) that live at the economic margins of society. -- Biden’s Vision About How to Heal America -- Feb 23
- "For every action, there is a disproportionate reaction" -- a look at the way in which the hyperpolarization spiral is being driven by the extremes of the left and the right. -- The Polarization Spiral -- How the right's monomania and the left's Great Awokening feed each other -- Feb 23
- Amid all the sound and fury over the teaching of history, reassuring news that there is broad support for and agreement on what an honest and balanced curriculum would look like. -- What the Culture Wars Get Wrong -- Feb 22
- A report on another major new book that helps us understand our troubled times and, especially the ways in which elites are undermining both democracy and capitalism. -- Will America’s woes bring down democracy and capitalism worldwide? -- Feb 22
- A thought-provoking and undoubtedly controversial look at six major political follies that have characterized the still young 21st-century (three on the left and the on three right) -- The Power-Mad Utopians -- Feb 22
- As we start to spend big money on the shift away from carbon-based fuels, hard questions about the limits of wind and solar and hopeful thoughts about the promise of nuclear energy. -- The Dawn of Nuclear Energy Abundance -- Feb 21
- From the National Review, a critique of the left-leaning fact-checking industry and a reminder of the difficulties faced by this once promising effort to provide us with information we can rely on. -- The ‘Disinformation Industry’ Is Only One Part of a Larger Scandal -- Feb 21
- From the United Kingdom yet another promising story about people who are showing us that it's possible to handle conflict in positive ways. -- How UK Politicians Are Learning to Disagree—More Agreeably -- Feb 21
- A good example of how paying attention to the human needs of those involved in conflict can help limit the alienation and hostility that can make conflicts so intractable.. -- Men Need Purpose More Than ‘Respect’ -- Feb 20
- One view on the current status of the important, but often neglected, conflict between progressives and the working classes. -- White Liberals Vs. The Working Class -- Feb 20
- An explanation of the core beliefs underlying conservatism (for those who might think that it is nothing more than a set of rationalizations justifying the pursuit of selfish interests). -- The conservative challenge to liberalism goes deeper than self-interest -- Feb 19
- An illuminating interview that helps us understand how Amanda Ripley's insightful views about conflict evolved (and how we all could think more constructively about the topic). -- Amanda Ripley -- Stepping out of "the zombie dance" we're in, and into "good conflict" that is, in fact, life-giving -- Feb 19
