Newsletter # 16 --  July 12, 2018

About Moving Beyond Intractability Newsletters

Important information about the Newsletters, sign-up procedures, and strategies for overcoming possible delivery problems is found at the end of this Newsletter.   Also available are past newsletters: 9, #10, #11, #12 , #13, #14, #15 and the 2017 Newsletter Archive.

We have been traveling a lot this summer, so we haven't sent out a newsletter in awhile.  This newsletter (which is online only, we didn't mail it out) contains all the BI-in-Context Posts that appeared between the two that were mailed (Newsletter #15 and Newsletter #17).

BI in Context Posts

• A critical, "compare and contrast" look at the differences between Trump's approach and principled negotiation. --Donald Trump, the Lose-Lose Negotiator -- 06/29/2018
• With little in the way of debate, the US is considering developing a new class of more usable nuclear weapons! -- A Decision Too Important for Rick Perry -- 06/29/2018
• A look at what it actually takes for small groups protesting social norms to actually change those norms. -- The Tipping Point When Minority Views Take Over -- 06/28/2018
• For those opposed to President Trump, a look at how a failure to pay attention to conflict dynamics may lead to def --How to Lose the Midterms and Re-elect Trump -- 06/28/2018
• A look at difficulties associated with making gender-neutral parenting a workable reality. -- You Can Give a Boy a Doll, but You Can't Make Him Play With It -- 06/27/2018
• I look at forgiveness and the role that it could play (but isn't) in our current political climate. -- We Are No Longer Capable Of Forgiving Our Enemies -- 06/27/2018
• A sophisticated interactive simulation that gives you a chance to see if your budget ideas will actually work. -- Fiscal Ship -- 06/26/2018
• An plan for ratcheting down rather than up the escalation spiral. -- The Antidote to Trump Is Decency -- 06/26/2018
• A possible democratic reform worth considering -- at large congressional districts. -- One Reform to Save America --06/25/2018
• A look at stunning, just under the radar, changes that are happening to United States foreign policy. -- American Foreign Policy: It’s Worse Than It Looks -- 06/25/2018
• The Germans have taken especially bold steps to remove hate from Facebook. What can we learn from their efforts? --Germany Acts To Tame Facebook -- 06/24/2018
• A new and instructive insights into the many factors that made the United States a superpower. -- The Real Story of How America Became an Economic Superpower -- 06/24/2018

• Another reinforcing dynamic that contributes to income inequality – the way poverty affects your thinking. -- Your Brain on Poverty: Why Poor People Seem to Make Bad Decisions -- 06/23/2018
• The first step toward opposing bigotry is to refrain from actions that contribute to the problem. -- How Rhetoric on the Left Fuels Bigotry on the Right -- 06/23/2018
• From Pew, an explanation of how to distinguish trustworthy polls from those that are not. -- Can we still trust polls? --06/22/2018
• Amid the euphoria over low unemployment rates, a story about how poorly millennials are actually being paid. -- The Incredible Shrinking Incomes of Young Americans -- 06/22/2018
• Since 1980, the US has been lagging behind developed world in life expectancy but surging in per capita healthcare --Medical Mystery: Something Happened to U.S. Health Spending After 1980 -- 06/21/2018
• From the Aspen Institute, an extensive set of materials on talking with people with whom you disagree. -- We Should All Speak to People We Don’t Agree With. Here’s How -- 06/21/2018
• A thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between respect and class. -- How to build a stronger middle class: With respect. -- 06/20/2018
• An inspirational profile of the traits that make somebody genuinely heroic. -- What Moral Heroes Are Made Of --06/20/2018
• Great article on what Mormons know about religious tolerance that others could benefit from learning. -- What Islamophobic Politicians Can Learn From Mormons -- 06/19/2018
• Is our focus on the Mueller investigation drowning out other important issues that deserve our attention? -- Robert Mueller, You’re Starting to Scare Me -- 06/19/2018
• A well-documented look at how political scientists explain the success of President Trump's immigration strategy. --President Trump Is a Very Political Animal -- 06/18/2018
• Important and interesting new word, the "by-with-through" national security strategy. -- Friends With Benefits --06/18/2018

• A simple version of the kind of contingency planning that Trump should master before threatening military action. --Contingency Plans Trump Should Master -- 06/15/2018
• Radical libertarians, proof that, at the extremes, the left and the right are remarkably similar. -- Why Radical Libertarians Are the New Communists -- 06/15/2018
• A reminder that free speech isn't the solution, it's the mechanism through which we push each other toward solution --Free Speech Will Not Save Us -- 06/14/2018
• Centrists are more distrustful of democracy than partisans, maybe because they don't think it's working for them. --Centrists are more Distrustful of Democracy than Partisans -- 06/14/2018
• Another argument for requiring young people to serve the larger community, though not necessarily in the military. --‘You Don’t Have to Wear a Military Uniform to Serve Your Country’ -- 06/13/2018
• A persuasive argument that that, for free speech to serve the interests of the larger society, it must be civil spe -- In Praise of Civility -- 06/13/2018
• Congress seems to at least be thinking about taking its power to declare war seriously. Will they do so wisely? -- Why war powers need an expiration date -- 06/12/2018
• An illuminating new statistic for rating corporate responsibility, the Marx index. -- Is Capital or Labor Winning at Your Favorite Company? Introducing the Marx Ratio -- 06/12/2018
• Mass shootings are undermining a critical piece of what holds us together--a sense of being safe in public places s --Our Broken Trust in Public SpaceMass shootings are undermining a critical piece of what holds us together--a sense of being safe -- 06/11/2018
• Ethical question for the children of today's elite: Is it ethical to accept "legacy admission" to a selective Unive -- Should I Go to a College I’ve Been Admitted to as a Legacy? Image -- 06/11/2018

• For those who don't remember 1968, an instructive look at a time when the US faced similarly deep social tensions. --The year America unraveled -- 06/08/2018
• A look at how AI might dramatically worsen the "Fake News" problem and the new technology of "deep fakes." -- The West is ill-prepared for the wave of “deep fakes” that artificial intelligence could unleash -- 06/08/2018
• An argument that our educational system is biased against boy's learning styles and ideas for addressing the proble --Stop Penalizing Boys for Not Being Able to Sit Still at School -- 06/07/2018
• Fact checking the lost children story--a window into the way complex realities are being spun for political advanta --Fact-checking immigration spin on separating families and 1,500 ‘lost’ children -- 06/07/2018
• An argument for rediscovering the United State's common identity and putting our "tribal differences" in better per --Can America Survive Tribalism? -- 06/06/2018
• A look at Google's debate over working for the Pentagon. We need a lot more people to have debates like this. -- How a Pentagon Contract Became an Identity Crisis for Google -- 06/06/2018

• China's terrifying, high-tech strategy for promoting "socially responsible" behavior. -- China's Dystopian Tech Could Be Contagious -- 05/30/2018
• A Scientific American look at the big question, does social media-based propaganda & psychological profiling actual --The Science Behind Cambridge Analytica: Does Psychological Profiling Work? -- 05/29/2018
• An eye-opening look at how differing (& inevitably subjective) definitions of race influence social tensions. -- The Demise Of The White Majority Is A Myth -- 05/29/2018
• A more critical look at the ‘Intellectual Dark Web.' -- Why I Escaped the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ -- 05/28/2018
• Is the left falling for the allure of promises that are too good to possibly keep? -- A Promise So Big, Democrats Aren’t Sure How to Keep It -- 05/28/2018
• Good news for the future of mass transit--high-tech buses and a lower carbon footprint. -- Five Breakthroughs That Could Make You Love the Bus -- 05/27/2018
• A comparison of divisive politics today and in 1968, the year of the ML King and Robert Kennedy assassinations. --Politics Is More Partisan Now, But It’s Not More Divisive -- 05/27/2018

• A helpful article for liberals willing to ask hard questions about whether what they are doing is actually helping. --Liberals, You’re Not as Smart as You Think -- 05/26/2018
• A critical look at Karl Marx on the occasion of his 200th birthday (and political revitalization). -- Why Marx Was Wrong --05/26/2018
• A long-term, historical look at the role that income inequality plays in the decline of civilizations. -- Historically, Income Inequality Is Known As A Destroyer Of Civilizations -- 05/25/2018
• Another window into the thousands of different Facebook ads that Russia used to try to influence US public opinion. --We read every one of the 3,517 Facebook ads bought by Russians. Here's what we found -- 05/25/2018
• Now that talk of regime change has resurfaced, a primer explaining what everyone ought to know about the topic. --Regime Change for Dummies -- 05/24/2018
• An explanation of how disrespect is undermining both anti-Trumpism and, more importantly, efforts to restore US dem -- The Daily 202: Trump voters stay loyal because they feel disrespected -- 05/24/2018
• A jaw-dropping hypothesis that helps us think about the place of human society in our planet's history. -- Was There a Civilization On Earth Before Humans? -- 05/23/2018
• An interesting exploration of the positive role that nationalism can play in helping us understand our common inter --Nationalism can be a good thing. We have to make the case for it -- 05/23/2018
• An important contribution to efforts to help us all better understand the political forces underlying Trump's succe -- The End of Trump Won't Be the End of Trumpism -- 05/22/2018
• An important contribution to efforts to help us all better understand the political forces underlying Trump's succe -- The End of Trump Won't Be the End of Trumpism -- 05/22/2018
• From a former governor, an explanation of what creating good jobs for everyone actually entails. -- Americans Need Jobs, Not Populism -- 05/22/2018
• A reminder that social media-based information warfare is an active threat not old news from the election. -- Fake Facebook accounts and online lies multiply in hours after Santa Fe school shooting -- 05/21/2018
• A somewhat hopeful story about the Koch Networks efforts to promote compromise on immigration and other issues. --Breaking With Trump's GOP, Koch Brothers Praise Democrats On Immigration -- 05/21/2018

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BI Newsletters - General Announcements

Every week or so, we will compile posts from the Frontiers Seminar, the Fundamentals Seminar, the Things Everyone Can Do to Help Blog, and the Beyond Intractability in Context Blog into a Newsletter that will be posted here and sent out by email to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy on our Newsletter Sign Up Page and find the latest newsletter as well as all past newsletters here on our Newsletter page.

2018 Newsletters:  #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | # 13 |  # 14 |  # 15 |  # 16 | 2017 Newsletter Archive (Newsletters #1-8) 

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