Blog#11 Overton Window

"The radical left wants to destroy America." "The far right is on the rise in the United States." We have all heard statements like this before. What does it mean to be far-right or a left-wing radical? Is it a matter of believing certain things or is it a matter of talking about things that are outside the realm of acceptable discourse? The Overton Window is a theory in political science that a society has a range of what is considered to be acceptable debate. For example, whether a woman can have an abortion at 20 weeks is an open question, but whether she should be allowed to vote is a settled issue. Suppose society has a norm such as Red means stop, Green means go, and yellow means go but be careful. It is acceptable to have a debate about whether you should go or stop on yellow, but it is not acceptable to say that you should go on red or stop on green.  However, the Overton Window can shift in one direction or another.  In 1800, the vast majority of Americans were against women having the right to vote, but due to activism from suffragettes, the majority of Americans, now, believe that women should have the right to vote. The Overton Window shifts as new issues arise, people change their minds, or an issue becomes irrelevant. The Overton Window also shifts when policy changes or there is more noise coming from one side of a debate.  I am politically all over the place. When I am in California, people think I am a conservative, but people think I am a liberal when I am in North Carolina. My views don't change, but given what the realm of acceptable politics is for a certain area, my views come across differently.  

There are numerous examples of how society's views on issues have changed. Generally in the modern political era, America has moved socially to the left, but economically to the right. Ideas that were mainstream in the Democratic Party of the 1950s-1970s such as universal healthcare are divisive within the party. Most Americans are in favor of Gay marriage and marijuana legalization which were not considered to be mainstream views, even in 2008. The Overton Window is an important concept to understand because the political issues of today will not necessarily be the same ones fought over tomorrow. Or even if they are fought over tomorrow, the debate of what is acceptable will be different. The Overton Window is also an important concept because it helps show that calling someone a radical says just as much about them as it does about society. 

This is part of a quote said by Barry Goldwater. His full quote was "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Barry Goldwater was a man outside the Overton Window in 1964. He lost the election massively, but his campaign went on to influence other conservatives such as Ronald Reagan. It is important that we have people that challenge our preconceptions. I do not agree with a lot of what Barry Goldwater believed, but I think his quote is very accurate. We should not be afraid to challenge the status quo, even if it ruffles some feathers. In order for our country to improve and our politics to meet the needs of the people, we need to be challenging the status quo.

                                                                            Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKeDW_Ib9I8

Blog#12 Our relationship with technology

 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tXPAl7rK3cd0fPimr2iFxsVk__7F5ZA3UtBjAMwQz44/edit?usp=sharing

"Science, what is it all about? Techmology (misspoken intentionally for effect)  what is that all about? Is it good or is it wack?" This question was posed by Sasha Baron Cohen in his portrayal of Ali G, a British hooligan. The rise of technology has been a defining theme of our era, Smartphones, computers, and other devices are available to everyone. Technology has the potential to save millions of people, but it also has the potential to destroy millions of lives and perhaps worse end the meaning of people's lives. While the question is asked by a seemingly idiotic character, it is a profound and important question for our time. How should we use technology? What technologies are useful and which ones are good. Technological progress is often regarded solely as a good thing, but it can make us weak, have people lose their jobs, or create social ills. However, technology allows people to become educated, find cures to diseases, and generate massive amounts of wealth. However, a lot of times when wealth is created, it first goes to those at the top and spreads through the masses. This leads to inequality which damages our society. Inequality can lead to crime, social unrest, and lower education levels. 

Recently I read a book called the Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. I really listened to it because our society has lost the ability to sit down and read a book. This book was about a supercomputer becoming God and the challenges it has. Prime Intellect follows Issac Asimov's three laws of Robotics.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to die.

2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

 The focuses on a woman who at the start of the story was a 106-year-old woman, dying in a hospital. Prime intellect is allowed to explore its surroundings by its creator and discovers her. Prime intellect, in a few days takes over the world because it discovers that people are able to die. It slowly takes over the whole universe, genociding millions of aliens, about 400 alien worlds in total because they present a potential threat to humans.  Prime Intellect uploads the whole universe onto itself, becoming God. It is able to give humans anything they want, yet many humans lack purpose in their lives because of this. We value struggle and progress through it. If there i no struggle, people will become complacent and bored. We have created technology because of our struggles and generated wealth and prosperity for the people. Humans are creatures with many desires. There is an expression "Idle hands to the devil's work".  It means that if you are doing nothing, you are likely to get the idea to do something bad. If humans have no purpose in their lives, they can do bad things. In the story, humans commit atrocities for fun because they sign death contracts that allow human beings to be hurt until they are about to die, then prime intellect will revive them. 

With the ability to search for virtually anything at our fingertips the ability for people to search for things that are violent or obscene has increased massively. There have been times on the internet where I have been disturbed by something. Google recently instituted a feature that says "results may be explicit". I think that people should be able to make the choices that they wish, but I also think that people should know what they are getting into.  Cigarettes are required to have warning labels and I think it is a good idea for the internet to have them. I think if companies keep your data, they should be required to use a warning label for that as well. In addition, I think that companies should be required to give a simplification of their user agreements to make sure the common person has an understanding of what they are agreeing to. 

Privacy is an important right, it is an idea that is not mentioned in the Constitution. The Constitution has been interpreted to protect it. I favor a view of the Constitution that protects liberty, even if the founders or future authors didn't intend it. The Congressmen who voted to pass the Fourteenth Amendment, probably wouldn't agree with gay marriage, but I think gays being allowed to marry is an important freedom. The founders wouldn't have seen the guns we have today, but I think that gun ownership is a right that should still be protected. Even if privacy is not an explicit right, I think it is fair to say that it is an implied right under the 1st, 4th, and 14th Amendments. Unfortunately, companies do not protect your privacy and many, including myself, see it as the cost of using their services. We should seek to protect user data from being sold to private companies, or at the very least provide the user knowledge that their data is being sold.

I think that I have represented technology as largely a negative thing so far, but technology has been a great benefit to Humanity. I was born a month early, my mother was 40 years old when she had me, an age that is old for a woman to have a child. I had to be put in an incubator for a week in order for my lungs to develop properly. If I was born 200 years ago, I would be dead. I owe my very life to the technology we have today. My family lives all over the country and is able to stay connected through the phone and email via the internet. Our nation is able to be connected by great highways that were built only in the 1950s. Knowledge is at our fingertips via the Internet if we choose to obtain it. I think that we need to be responsible with the technology that we have, both as individuals and as a society. We need to make sure that the environment is protected, inequality does not reach a tremendous level, and that people are able to understand what they are getting into when they use technology. 

                                                                                 Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx5t5ps-bwc

blog#7 Invention

 I learned about the invention of the Television. The television was invented in 1907 by Lindsey Boyelstad.  It was created as a device that could transport images across telegraph or telephone wires. The first television was created by John Baird. The first modern television was created by Philo Farnsworth in 1927. Credit was also given to Vladimir Zworykin. 

Television has had a large impact on American culture and communication. Events are able to be broadcasted live to millions of people. Television has allowed a common culture to be created across all regions of the country. People are able to watch sports games, cartoons, and sitcoms. Businesses are able to advertise to millions of people, creating new jobs, and allowing more people to purchase products. Television can be an addiction for some people and many have to be careful about the time spent watching it. Television has been a great source of information and entertainment for millions of people.  Television has also probably lowered the attention span of people. Seeing flashy images and sounds makes it harder to find enjoyment in a book or listen to the radio. Television has paved the way for modern technologies such as the computer and Smartphone. Both have screens similar to a television.  

Blog#10 ai

 What are the positive aspects of more and more complex artificial intelligence and machine learning?

• What about privacy, pros and cons?

• What about national security?

• What about online security and identity theft?

The creation of artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically change human life. We have already seen some developments from automation. One of these has been the loss of jobs to automation. Some of this is due to trade deals, but most of it has come from increased automation. People will have to learn new skills in order to be competitive in the future job market, unfortunately, many people will not be able to afford it. According to the Hill, less than half of Americans would be able to afford an unexpected $1000 expense. Getting the necessary skills for a new job would require more than an unexpected expense.

Surveillance Capitalism is a word that has been used to describe the new era that we are headed into. In order for companies to get the information that they want so they can market advertise effectively, companies need to obtain the private information of individuals. Based on what we search for, we leave behind information about ourselves. Such data can be very revealing and many people are unaware of the full effects of it. Social media companies offer their services for free so that they can have the data of more people and sell the data.  Social contagion experiments are also another development that is interesting. Facebook along with other companies has ads encouraging people to vote during the midterms. According to a study in the 2010 midterms, about 300,000 more people were encouraged to vote. While more people exercising their right to vote is a good thing, companies have the ability to selectively encourage people sympathetic to the party that favors them to vote.  A new law in California has increased consumer privacy by allowing individuals to opt out of giving their data to online companies and know what information is collected.  

There is also a danger that authoritarian government will use such data collecting to predict who may be a threat to their regime. China has arrested many Uighurs because they feel that there are some individuals within the Uighur community who have separatist sympathies. Surveillance of the Uighur community can use factors such as if you have facial hair, what language you use, or how often you pray. This is a targeted attack of an ethnic minority group. Technologies like this have the potential to be used by our government, and to a degree are being used. America has a history of institutional racism and censorship. Just because we have the first amendment and the fourteenth amendment does not mean that we truly live up to them. We have made great strides, but while the path of history may bend towards Justice as Dr. King said, it does not mean that there are not periods of backsliding and strife. Homeland Security under Joe Biden has moved to target online disinformation, a move that I am concerned about. While there are some real nutjobs on the internet, I don't think our government is a good regulator of them. Our government has lied to the American people of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, commited a genocide against the Indians, and allowed African Americans to live as second class citizens for 100 years after the end of slavery. All of those things are still controvertial statements in America which shows that the government cannot be trusted to protected our rights. We need to be able to express our opinions about where our country does, in order for it to improve. People will push back if someone says something stupid. I have said many stupid things and people have told me why I was wrong. In order for the American Experiment to succeed, debate and freedom need to be allowed to flourish or else we are lost. 

There is a debate about whether the government should regulate the use of ai. I think the government should. Ai has the potential to create a lot of problems such as unemployment, the proliferation of fake audio and video clips, and the ability to destroy the privacy of an untold number of people. I think that the privacy bill that California implemented was good. I think people have a right to know what they are buying. I also would support a law that would make it so you could see a simplified version of the terms and conditions, available by audio and visual. Many people do not read the terms and conditions. I understand that there are a number of regulations companies need to follow, and they are for lack of a better term trying to cover their ass, but they are too complex for the common person to understand.  

 Automation is the replacement of workers with machines, the replacement of labor with capital. "If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." (William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold,1896) These words are from one of my favorite speeches in American history. Unfortunately, I think few Americans know of the Cross of Gold Speech. It is a speech about bimetallism, but more importantly, it is a speech attacking the establishment for their betrayal of the people. I would say that there is a feeling across the youth, regardless of political beliefs that to put it simply "America is Dead". I have this feeling too, I feel that the America, my parents grew up in is gone. I feel that we are fighting a continuous culture war at home, fighting unwinnable wars abroad, and the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. We are in a time of great potential, a time to provide prosperity to everyman man, woman, and child, but much of those gains have gone to the wealthy and the powerful. According to Forbes in 2020, the world's billionaires got 1.9 trillion dollars richer. I am not a communist, but do feel that our system is broken and needs change. 

A good example of this is the price of college tuition, the prices for in-state public colleges have risen from $4,202 in 2003 to $11,541 in 2023, adjusted for inflation. Some of this is due to improvements in quality and the use of technology, but the overall effect is My good friend Nick Nunez gave a wonderful presentation about this, last Thursday, and proposed ending the loan by the government, forgiving all students loans, and having private banks give out the loans. I approve of this process. I would also favor making public universities free. Another issue that is facing the youth is that of loneliness. 

Another problem that is inpart caused by the rise of technology is the rise of people feeling lonely, particularly the Youth. I think part of the reason that people feel lonely is that they are distraced by social media. The Algorithms of social media encourage you to use the product. I also think that the average American spends a lot of time working jobs that they are not engaged in. Americans feel isolated and I think that is part of the reason why patriotism has collapsed is many people feel left out both by our political system and in their personal lives. Many will gawk and say that the youth are degenerate because they don't love their country as much as they should, while this may be true for some, gawking at why your opponents are bad is not a great strategy to changing their minds. I love my country, I love that we have given people the ability to speak freely, I love that we have been a haven for many immigrants who have fled their homelands in search of freedom, and I am proud that we have been a nation that has let people with unusual ideas experiment. I love my brother with all I love, he is a very smart and caring man. He is a physics teacher. When asked who I thought of when I think of Jesus at a Catholic Confirmation event, I said my brother Jordan. I look up to my brother, as an example of how I can be more kind and patient with others. If my brother became a different man, a man who would make the man is he today look like Jesus, I would be infuriated. A country is no different, I love my country, but I am embarrassed at what it has become. I think some real work needs to occur for our country to be the land of the free, home of the brave, a haven for the oppressed, and a place of opportunity like it was when my Father was my age. I know that my standards are high, as they should be, but I believe America is capable of them. America will never be perfect like my brother will never be as good as Jesus, but it can be an example for others. 

https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/poverty/590453-survey-finds-over-half-of-americans-cant-afford-a-1000/

https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2020/12/16/the-worlds-billionaires-have-gotten-19-trillion-richer-in-2020/?sh=164b5d37386f

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/see-20-years-of-tuition-growth-at-national-universities

Blog#5 The Radio

 The radio has been a very significant development in communication technology for mankind. It allowed messages to be broadcasted to millions of people which allowed advancements in advertising, music, and storytelling. The radio was invented in 1895 by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi who sent and received his first radio signal that year. Nikola Tesla came up with a similar device in the same year in New York. However, Marconi was able to get the patent faster. The first transatlantic signal was sent in 1902.  Despite Mr. Marconi being the primary person behind the invention of the radio, there were several others who contributed to the Invention. In 1866, an American Dentist named Mahlon Loomis demonstrated wireless telegraphy.  The telegraph required cables to be connected so that information could be spread. The telegraph could also not send sound but instead, send an electric current which was then created into a system known as morse code. This code relied on dots and dashes and required someone to translate those dots and dashes into words. The radio was able to pick up a signal and allow the receiver just to listen to the audio. This made the process a lot easier. 

The radio has had a profound effect on human history and human communication. It has allowed people to send signals from thousands of miles away making communication much faster. The Radio has allowed advertisements to be sent out to millions of people. It has allowed people to find entertainment through stories on the radio and music. News is also spread through the radio, making humans able to understand what is going on in the world. The radio, relying on sound, lets blind people or illiterate people get information. Sports and religious ceremonies are also spread via the radio. There are numerous stations that are operating, allowing people to find entertainment and education. There is commercial radio which is large radio stations (AM and FM) and amateur or Ham radio. Using a ham radio, people are able to send messages to one another or even across the world.  However, the FCC requires that you have a license in order to operate a Ham radio. 

The radio is also a big part of why FDR got elected. He was able to spread his message to millions of people. New methods of communication allow new ideas to be spread. FDR was able to give his fireside chats to his supporters. He was able to communicate complex policy ideas, such as banking regulation through the radio. If the radio hadn't existed, FDR wouldn't have been able to campaign as effectively as he was disabled. The radio gave rise to new ideas and new technologies. If the radio had not existed, television and the internet would probably have been invented or would have been very different.  Radios were occasionally used to spread bigotry such as in the case of Charles Coughlin who attacked Jewish bankers. With technology improving, new challenges are created. People need to understand that they should verify what they hear and make sure that it is logically sound. Foul language and other potentially offensive things can be spread via the radio. Like many technologies, the radio is but a tool and should be used appropriately. Radio has allowed mass communication, education, and entertainment. It is largely a technology that is seen as being out of date, but it has paved the way for newer technologies to develop.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iipnhLTdh-0

https://public.wsu.edu/~bryan.mclaughlin/Radio/Who_Invented_Radio.html

https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_whoradio.html#:~:text=Tesla%20filed%20his%20own%20basic,of%20Tesla%20and%20other%20inventors.

Blog#6 Anti War Dissent

 WAR! HUH What is it good for?

Some things, but wars need to be clearly thought out and debated before we start them.  The United States, following its victory in the Cold War, became the sole world superpower.  The United States, since the end of the Cold War, has fought in a number of wars to contain its geopolitical enemies, acquire resources, and align different nations into its sphere of Influence. Both political parties have been responsible for this. The interventionist wars of the United States face minor opposition in both political parties, but there is not a unified anti-war movement.  Anti-war voices are often sidelined for being "conspiratorial" while the discourse of the nation has largely shifted towards the culture war. There are a variety of reasons for this. The first one is that the media makes a lot of money reporting off wars. Wars to put it simply are interesting,  people will watch the news more if the United States is involved in a war. The news can report on the progress of the war and how bad the enemy is. The media also does not report on the atrocities of the United States. If the media were to report on various war crimes committed by America, they would lose access to politicians and get accused of being unpatriotic. 

Another reason is that most Americans are not fixated on the consequences of American interventionism. Unlike Vietnam, our modern wars are not fought with conscripts. People will feel more strongly against a war if it disturbs their lives. The case against modern intervention is a lot more complicated than it was in the 1960s and 1970s. People are also distracted by trivial matters. Whether Colin Kaepernick stood for the national anthem received as much attention as the case against the war in Iraq. Whether or not Mr. Kaepernick stands for the flag is largely irrelevant to my life. The War in Iraq is relevant to my life because it uses my tax dollars to fund an offensive war and the permanent occupation of a country that didn't attack us. In addition to this, many Americans, unfortunately, are ignorant about the geopolitics of the Middle East. Saddam Hussien who lead a secular government was portrayed as a supporter of Islamic terror. The American people did not know about Iraq's politics and bought into the war. Politicians are not interested in having a nuanced debate about interventionism because they would lose the support of the various defense contractors that finance their campaigns. Instead, both political parties focus on the culture war circus, with Republicans saying how Democrats hate America and Democrats saying how Republicans hate minorities.

The media does not want you to know about the various wars that we engage in. We need to be able to have a nuanced conversation about the wars we engage so we can decide if they are legitimate or not.