Political Polarization: Seek First to Understand
12 Jun, 2014
America is now more politically polarized than at any point in the last 20 years. This isn’t just Congress – this is the American people. That polarization shows up in beliefs about politics, about everyday life, and even in where conservatives and liberals live. And…
R e a d M o r eCan We Beat the Surveillance State? My Keynote at CFP 2014
10 Jun, 2014
I was honored to be one of the keynote speakers at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2014 Conference this year. My talk gave an overview of the surveillance state we’re building today, and then used lessons from the past to show how incredibly dangerous that…
R e a d M o r eIs the US an Oligarchy? Not So Fast.
17 Apr, 2014
There’s a new study out which, press outlets are telling me, shows that the United States is now an oligarchy, ruled by the rich and powerful, and perhaps that the US has been sliding in this direction for decades. You can see coverage of it…
R e a d M o r eMy WFS2011 Talk: The Infinite Resource: Growing Prosperity While Reducing Impact on the Earth
9 Jul, 2011
I gave at talk this morning at the World Future Society 2011 Conference in Vancouver. The talk was entitled The Infinite Resource: Growing Prosperity While Reducing Impact on the Earth, and it looks at what the ultimate limits of growth and prosperity on this planet…
R e a d M o r ePersuading Climate Skeptics – Why We Need Republican Experts
18 Mar, 2011
New Scientist has an interesting article on research into what persuades people on scientific issues. The key finding is that there’s a major impact of hearing the evidence from someone who has similar political and social outlooks. Experts who are similar to listeners are inherently…
R e a d M o r eFrom Printing Press to Twitter: What Makes a Technology Pro-Democracy?
7 Feb, 2011
We’ve heard a lot about the role of social media, text messaging, and mobile phones in the uprising in Egypt. A lot has been said to credit them with fueling or at least organizing the protests and with getting word out to the outside…
R e a d M o r eLessons From Egypt : Encouraging Saudi Democracy & Beyond
7 Feb, 2011
I posted recently that the situation in Egypt provides important lessons for US foreign policy. Specifically, the US should have been pressing for democracy in Egypt decades ago, and making US military aid to Egypt contingent on steps towards a free press, free elections, and…
R e a d M o r eEgypt, Twitter, and the Collapse of Top-Heavy Societies
5 Feb, 2011
Watching the news about Egypt and the debate as to whether Twitter, Facebook, etc.. are inherently pro-democracy, I’m struck by a connection to Joseph Tainter’s 1988 classic, The Collapse of Complex Societies. Tainter speculates that societies ultimately face two problems. One, the marginal return on…
R e a d M o r eEgypt: Is Mandatory Conscription Pro-Democracy?
31 Jan, 2011
Watching the situation in Egypt, I’ve been struck repeatedly by how the Army has behaved. Today the Egyptian Army announced that it won’t use force against protesters. Earlier in the protests, we saw reports of Egyptian soldiers shaking hands with protesters and inviting them onto…
R e a d M o r eTurmoil in Egypt Shows Shortsightedness of US Foreign Policy
28 Jan, 2011
Over the last few days, Egyptians have taken to the streets, demanding that Egyptian president and dictator Hosni Mubarak step down. The protests so far haven’t had a religious or anti-American bent. They’re not Islamist. They are a wave of people – mostly young people…
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