[FRIAM] civil war(s)

[Steve Smith]

Not speaking for Nick, *I* think politics (vs statesmanship) are at the
very *least* _rhetorical_.   I believe rhetoric often includes direct
deceit.  A great deal of politics in the US today (maybe forever) is
acutely deceitful, even when it isn't attack-oriented.  One party is
significantly more bold than the other in that regard.  DaveW may invert
the sense of that judgement, but probably agrees that deceptive rhetoric
is a mainstay in politics.

I think the "Civil War" metaphor isn't just deceitful, it is
intentionally provocative and deeply disingenuous.  My personal opinion
is that the angry Right Mob and the Puppeteers yanking their strings
wants a *literal* Civil War so that they can exercise their superior
firepower and brutality to obtain/retain singular minority rule over a
growing majority coalition of minorities.   I think the rhetoric of the
last year from that quarter trying to imply that the LEFT was on the
verge of starting a hot Civil War if they "didn't get their way" was
more projection, and intended to create a certain amount of cover and/or
precedent for the type of coup attempt we saw on December 37th and the
acute threats of violence from the right that has been bubbling for a
very long time.  

Perhaps "Cold Civil War" is more apt and less suggestive of
endorsing/tolerating violence as a means.

Even the most violent of BLM and related protests did not aspire to
overthrow government or reverse an election.   While their attempts to
hold law enforcement accountable in response to specific recent
incidents (it is not a small list) and systemic abuses might have risen
above a threshold of violence that many of us might approve, the
movement was NOT about disenfranchising anyone except the very public
servants who are supposed to work for us ("Protect and Serve").

All that said, I'm not unsympathetic with the resentments "the common
man" has against their elected Representatives in our Republic, but any
rhetoric that suggests that the Left is worse than the Right is acutely
disingenuous.

Regarding the term "spin"...  I *do* think it is apt in the sense of
"making your head spin" but I think the metaphor of "churn" is yet more
apt in the sense that a great deal of the point seems to be to generate
lots of obfuscation by conflation.   Muddying the waters...

- Steve


> That's because you think politics is essentially deceitful?
>
> -- rec --
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 10, 2021 at 1:59 PM <thompnickson2 at gmail.com
> <mailto:thompnickson2 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I always thought the metaphor was to a web of deceit.
>
>     n
>
>      
>
>     Nick Thompson
>
>     ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com <mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com>
>
>     https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>     <https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/>
>
>      
>
>     *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com
>     <mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> *On Behalf Of *Roger Critchlow
>     *Sent:* Wednesday, March 10, 2021 12:53 PM
>     *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
>     <friam at redfish.com <mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
>     *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] civil war(s)
>
>      
>
>      
>
>      
>
>     On Tue, Mar 9, 2021 at 3:34 PM Prof David West
>     <profwest at fastmail.fm <mailto:profwest at fastmail.fm>> wrote:
>
>         schisms might be a better metaphor than civil war.
>
>         you are correct that there is, and always has been, "churn"
>         among factions within both parties and any significance given
>         to a particular instance of that churn e.g GOPS taking
>         committee assignments away from a flake or the Nevada state
>         party instance — originate in the mind of the one pointing at
>         the event rather than intrinsic to the event itself. One
>         reason that I find most political headlines to be examples of
>         wishful thinking rather than communicators of significance.
>
>         davew
>
>      
>
>     Second that, it's why they call it spin, cause it makes your head
>     spin if you pay too much attention.
>
>      
>
>     -- rec -- 
>
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