Newsletter #280 — September 29, 2024
Reader Suggested Links
Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.
- Theories of Change
“There’s Nothing Mystical About the Idea that Ideas Change History” — A Steven Pinker interview with important food for thought on one of the most important "theories of change" -- the ability of ideas to transform the society in which we live. - Climate / Environment
Where Environmentalists Went Wrong — An essay that explains why, with respect to the environment and so many other issues, it is critically important that we wisely and equitably balance costs and benefits. - Disinformation
How Lying Became Disinformation — A must read article exploring both the problem of disinformation and the ways in which elites (on both the left and right) are hijacking efforts to limit the problem. - The Hyper-Polarization Threat
Researchers to quantify political polarization — An announcement of Dartmouth University's new Polarization Research Lab -- an effort to move beyond anecdotal evidence and quantify the nature and magnitude of the hyper-polarization problem. - Israel / Hamas War
Israel’s Pager Attacks Have Changed the World — Israel's ongoing war with Iran and its proxies (and Ukraine's simultaneous war with Russia) are opening up new arenas for conflict -- arenas that attack the vulnerabilities of modern, high-tech societies. - Disinformation
Australia's Misinformation Police — A worrying account of Australia's new effort to legally prohibit disinformation -- an effort that could easily wind up criminalizing political criticism - Israel / Hamas War
Gaza’s Suffering Is Unprecedented — A sobering reminder of the immense suffering produced by the ongoing war in Gaza and an eloquent appeal for all concerned to take the steps needed to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Psychological Complexity
From Contempt to Connection: How Curiosity Transforms Us — In the latest episode of “Debate Without Hate: Elections 2024,” Scott Shigeoka, author of "Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World," talks about the power of genuine curiosity. - Saving Democracy
Democracy Resource Hub — The Hub offers curated tools and connections for democracy practitioners worldwide. Access resources on civic engagement, nonviolent action, peacebuilding, and strategic planning, and joining the global community of dialogue practitioners. - Violence
Toolkit for Responding to Violent Conflicts — From the Canadian Friends Service Committee, a toolkit of responses to small scale and large scale violence. - Crime / Policing / Guns
Both Sides of the Gun Debate Come Together at the Tennessee 11 Premiere — From Starts with Us, a film about all sides working together to find common ground on guns. - Developing a Unifying Vision
We All Win, or We All Lose — An essay Duncan Autrey wrote several years ago, and just recently reposted, asking how we can work together to build a world better for all of us, not just half of us. - Saving Democracy
Civilization Works — Civilization Works is a research organization that is defending the pillars of civilization: Free Speech, Cheap Energy, Meritocracy, Law and Order, Equal Justice, Free and Fair Elections, and Childhood. - Escalation & Violence Limiting Projects
What Is It You Just Called Me? — Ashok Panikkar says "insults work better if you know what they really mean." So he explains -- the meaning of democracy, socialism, conservative, liberal, progressive, etc. Not really "insults," but… - US Election
Within Collaborative 2024 Election Preparation — This guide is designed to help people identify sources of resilience and sustainable action. Their goal is to nurture hope, build connections, promote care and focus, and be prepared for different election outcomes. - US Election
Eighty-Member Bipartisan National Citizens Panel Uses The Dignity Index To Score the Presidential Debate between Harris and Trump — "Our nation’s divisions are not caused by our disagreements," said Shriver, co-creator of the Dignity Index. “They’re caused by treating others with contempt when we disagree." - Theories of Change
Challenge-Led Innovation: Organising for Systems Innovation at Scale — To be alive in this moment is to be innovating by necessity. We need to organize many diverse innovations across institutions and geographies to address our most pressing challenges. - US Election
New Survey Results Find That Worry About Hostility Is on the Rise Among Local Elected Officials — New survey results indicate that concerns over harassment, threats, and physical attacks have significantly increased in the wake of high-profile incidents like the shooting of former President Trump. - Climate / Environment
Making the Climate a Blue Issue Was a Mistake — Climate change can and should be a cause that people across the political spectrum are invested in. The key to making that happen may well be in how we frame conversations about the issue. - Theories of Change
Responding Across the System — To tackle complex challenges, we know we need to go from disjointed isolated responses, to coordinated multi-point strategies – or from confetti to spaghetti as Ingrid Burkett would say.
News and Opinion
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better. (Formerly, Beyond Intractability in Context.)
- Constructive Communication
Believing and Doubting — The description of a solid, practical strategy for reading in ways that promote mutual understanding and empathy, while limiting misinformed and hateful animosities. - Crime / Policing / Guns
The True Costs of America’s Gun Obsession — In the context of the United States' cherished gun rights, a reminder that rights are not cost free. - Disinformation
Confessions of a Russian Propagandist — A first-hand account of how 21st-century Russian propaganda techniques work with important lessons about how we can protect ourselves from internal and external actors willing to use those techniques. - Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
Lighthouse Parents Have More Confident Kids — A new word to add to the lexicon of parenting philosophies, lighthouse parenting (an option that has a lot to recommend it). - Violence
Don’t Blame Political Violence on Political Rhetoric — A thoughtful essay exploring the complex relationship between the violent language we often employ and the way in which we actually behave. - Violence
The Surprising Reality of Political Violence in America — A somewhat reassuring update on what we really know about US trends with respect to political violence. - US Election
Kamala Harris Said She Owns a Gun for a Very Strategic Reason — In the context of political persuasion, an exploration of the relationship between two activities -- "virtue signaling" and "vice signaling." - Superpower Conflict
America’s Crisis of Deterrence: How to Adapt an Old Theory to New Realities — From Foreign Affairs, carefully considered thoughts about how we can deter war by modifying deterrence strategies to better reflect complex 21st-century strategic realities. - Saving Democracy
The Grave Error of Old-School Liberals — The challenge for traditional liberals worried about the declining influence of their political philosophy -- think about the ways in which your actions may have contributed to this decline. - Israel / Hamas War
Why Israel should NOT have a “day after plan” for Gaza — A reprint of an insightful, older article that explains why it is almost impossible to plan for the replacement of the despotic regime while that regime remains in power. - Israel / Hamas War
How to Evaluate Media Coverage of Israel: A Guide — A practical framework for determining the degree to which media coverage of Israel's ongoing war with Iran and its proxies is actually reliable. - Developing a Unifying Vision
A Renewed Union? — A review and overview of an important new book: "Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America’s Political Crisis," by James Hunter. - Climate / Environment
Tally Of US Wind & Solar Rejections Hits 735 — Hard data indicating that efforts to limit climate change are being threatened by our failure to effectively address the many conflicts that surround wind and solar development projects. - Immigration
The Real Questions of the Immigration Debate — From a thoughtful, conservative perspective, an example of how to constructively raise difficult and controversial issues without fear and hate mongering. - Intersectional Left
America is becoming less “woke” — A statistical analysis that strongly suggests that influence of "woke" ideas is declining in the US. - Constructive Advocacy
The Basics: Deference Politics — A thoughtful essay asking hard questions about the fuzzy relationship between elite promises to really do something about the plight of the less privileged and substantive actions that actually do make a difference. - Disinformation
The information war is critical. The U.S. must not lose it to China. — The geopolitical information war is at least as important as the emerging global arms race. This article highlights things that Western democracies can do to help protect themselves. - Media Reform
Section 230 Catches Up to AI — A description of ongoing litigation that might help overcome the "Section 230" problem and hold tech companies responsible for the content that their algorithms are pushing on users. - Media Reform
As Newspapers Fade, Journalists Are Finding New Ways to Cover Local News — A pretty sober assessment of the difficulties facing local news -- an assessment that, surprisingly, also contains good news about the successes that journalists are having in finding ways to continue their work. - Class Inequity
Meritocracy and Its Critics — An articulate defense of meritocratic institutions and ideas -- a defense that provides an important counterpoint to the more critical views that now dominate. - US Election
Harris Puts Government Intervention at Heart of Economic Policy — A reminder that at the heart of the United States' hyperpolarized political rhetoric, there is a real debate over hugely consequential issues like the role the government should play in our daily lives.
Please Contribute Your Ideas To This Discussion!
In order to prevent bots, spammers, and other malicious content, we are asking contributors to send their contributions to us directly. If your idea is short, with simple formatting, you can put it directly in the contact box. However, the contact form does not allow attachments. So if you are contributing a longer article, with formatting beyond simple paragraphs, just send us a note using the contact box, and we'll respond via an email to which you can reply with your attachment. This is a bit of a hassle, we know, but it has kept our site (and our inbox) clean. And if you are wondering, we do publish essays that disagree with or are critical of us. We want a robust exchange of views.
About the MBI Newsletters
Two or three times a week, Guy and Heidi Burgess, the BI Directors, share some of our thoughts on political hyper-polarization and related topics. We also share essays from our colleagues and other contributors, and every week or so, we devote one newsletter to annotated links to outside readings that we found particularly useful relating to U.S. hyper-polarization, threats to peace (and actual violence) in other countries, and related topics of interest. Each Newsletter is posted on BI, and sent out by email through Substack to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy here and find the latest newsletter here or on our BI Newsletter page, which also provides access to all the past newsletters, going back to 2017.
NOTE! If you signed up for this Newsletter and don't see it in your inbox, it might be going to one of your other emails folder (such as promotions, social, or spam). Check there or search for beyondintractability@substack.com and if you still can't find it, first go to our Substack help page, and if that doesn't help, please contact us.
If you like what you read here, please ....
