Passing Comments

As Michael Wesch explains, anthropology is the study of culture. The particular culture Wesch and his students are now studying is YouTube. In the video below (which is itself full of videos) of a talk he gave to the Library of Congress last June, Wesch presented some of their findings.

David Weinberger on his Joho the blog last week (where I learned about the video) describes Wesch’s presentation:

It’s a 55 minute lecture, with lots and lots of examples, explaining the importance of YouTube. And, like his own videos, it’s compelling, brilliant, and moving.

(A warning — don’t watch this if you don’t want to understand YouTube in a whole new way)

Definitely check out this article yesterday from David Leonhardt at the New York Times about some of the stinkier aspects of Treasury Secretary Paulson’s bailout proposal (”Could Warren Buffett Negotiate a Better Deal for Taxpayers?” Sept 24, 2008).

One of the article’s insights:

Now, what would Mr. Buffett have said if Goldman asked for his money and wouldn’t let him share in the upside? “He would have said ‘no deal!’ ” said Daniel Alpert, of Westwood Capital, an investment firm. “And that is what Congress must say as well in defense of the American people.”

The article’s closing paragraph is especially a heartwarmer.

Blame It On Your Lyin’ Cheatin’ Heart (Patty Loveless)

And she’s advising the American people also to avoid seeing things through a naively pink glow, especially now. The widely-praised writer of The Shock Doctrine — a book that reveals how the rich and powerful exploit natural and manmade disasters for profit — is warning that the ongoing Wall Street meltdown is a demonstration of more of this ruthless greed in action.

From her blog yesterday: (”Now is the Time to Resist Wall Street’s Shock Doctrine” Sept 22, 2008):

I wrote “The Shock Doctrine” in the hopes that it would make us all better prepared for the next big shock. Well, that shock has certainly arrived, along with gloves-off attempts to use it to push through radical pro-corporate policies (which of course will further enrich the very players who created the market crisis in the first place…

Summing up the current highway robbery scenario now being staged in the U.S. Congress, Klein warns that there are no saviors who are going to look out for us in this crisis. Certainly not Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, one of the companies that will benefit most from his proposed bailout (which is actually a stick up). Loud, organized grassroots pressure on both political parties is our only hope, she says.

Here is a video of Klein last week on the popular political affairs talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, debating the current crisis.

I don’t know about you, but that was the first question that popped into my head when I saw the headline this week about Rwanda’s achievement? (”In a world first, women in the majority in Rwanda legislature” AFP, Sept 18, 2008).

As I remember, it was only in 1994 that Rwanda ended a genocidal war that left 800,000 of its people dead. How does a country move from being one of the most tragic in history to being one of the most forward-thinking in history in the span of only 14 years?

The answer: It was the first terrible event, the war, that was the catalyst for a new law that led to the second situation of more women in political leadership, according to sources cited on Wikipedia’s Rwanda page (”Gender Conflict and Development” by Tsjeard Bouta, 2004; “Strengthening governance: the role of women in Rwanda’s transition” by Elizabeth Powley).

In short, per Wikipedia, a new law and a new philosophy by the new government:

By law, at least a third of the Parliament representation must be female. It is believed that women will not allow the mass killings of the past to be repeated.

The recent video from AlJazeera, below, is the first of a two-part report on Rwanda. It explores the country’s past tragedy and its recovery. The report also features interviews with some of the women now assuming such a featured role in the government and social programs of the country (”Africa Uncovered: Rights & Reconstruction” Sept 1, 2008).  Ah, and yes, there’s also an interview with a man who objects to this speed-tracking of women as leaders. Gee, imagine that.

I found these videos here at the WE Empower website.

The Christian Science Monitor has an article on Tzipi Livni’s primary victory yesterday that has put her in line to become Israel’s new prime minister (”Can Livni clean up Israeli politics?” by Ilene R. Prusher, Sept 19, 2008).

Prusher offers a look at Livni’s political history and what kind of change she may or may not represent for her country’s policies. Livni has been compared by some to Barack Obama and his message of change, according to the article, but some experts quoted in the piece say this is a false analogy.

For another assessment and close-up look at Livni and some of her recent work in relation to negotiating with the Palestinians, below is an analysis from Daniel Levy in an interview today with the Real News Network (”Livni poised to be next Israeli PM” Sept 18, 2008):

Another assessment from economist Nouriel Roubini in a CNBC interview yesterday about the ongoing Wall Street meltdown (”‘Socialism’ on Wall Street” Sept 17, 2008). Asked about the advisability of Uncle Sam rescuing the sinking insurance giant, AIG, Roubini says it’s a very bad idea.

So where was the regulation and supervision? They screwed up big time over and over again. Now we’re in a situation in which the profits have been privatized, and now the losses have been socialized…

“This is not a market economy. This is socialism for the rich, for the well-connected on Wall Street…”

Roubini rounds out his analysis by explaining his idea of what constitutes a practical and important use of public money, what should be done about the distressed U.S. housing sector, and the way to avoid massive home foreclosures.

Watch:

See previous post on Roubini here.

UPDATE: Today’s New York Times gathers some opinion from around the world on the AIG bailout (”Abroad, Bailout Is Seen as a Free Market Detour” by Nelson D. Schwartz, Sept 17, 2008)

A few days ago in a phone conversation, I was discussing the current U.S. Presidential campaign with a British friend. In particular, we were talking about the stupefying clamor that is characterizing much of the traditional media coverage of Republican vp choice Sarah Palin.

My friend said that the impression she is receiving is that the American public in general loves Palin, and that if it’s true that American voters are so silly, it may be cancelling out the resurgence of international good will toward the United States that has been generated by Barack Obama’s candidacy.

I responded by declaring my own profound hope — which is that what we are seeing is not a true picture of American voters as a majority, but is rather a super-hyped reflection of the actions of a small, noisy core group of ultra partisans, religious extremists and political opportunists, coupled with a widespread failure of much of U.S. traditional news media to do its job well.

One part of this hope of mine stems from reports that the polls — even those that can be trusted — are not measuring the huge number of new and returning voters in this election. The second part of my (cockeyed) optimism is a gut feeling that we couldn’t possibly be so blind as to choose to stay on the same, disastrous path that we are on now.

Cloning Spiro

It seems to me that those who remember the election campaign of 1968, and the surprise selection of Spiro T. Agnew as Richard M. Nixon’s running mate then, may be recalling those past times during these weeks of observing the hysteria and anger in response to John McCain’s “gotcha” surprise of a running mate. In the early days of Palin’s arrival as candidate, Jonathan Singer at MyDD.com wrote about this (”Sarah Palin is Spiro Agnew” Aug 29, 2008):

It has been forty years since someone as inexperienced as Sarah Palin has been put on a national ticket, and surprisingly enough there are some real similarities between Palin and her unprepared predecessor, Spiro T. Agnew, who also had been governor less than two years at the time Richard Nixon picked him to be his number two and who also had a corruption problem lingering in the background that would end up causing his running mate problems.

In a Wikipedia page on Agnew, it is noted that he was chosen so he could act as Nixon’s hatchet man during the campaign. Nixon-as-candidate certainly must have been pleased because — and I remember this well myself — his protege excelled in highly partisan, condemnatory language, more often than not creating divisiveness and stirring up anger of voters pro and con whenever he spoke. Related excerpt:

In short, Agnew was Nixon’s “hatchet man” when defending the administration on the Vietnam War.[4] Agnew was chosen to make several powerful speeches in which he spoke out against anti-war protesters and media portrayal of the Vietnam War, labeling them “Franco Un-American”.

This trait is one of the factors that has reminded me most of John McCain’s protege, Palin. And in laying out this path of attack by his “soulmate” as he calls her, McCain has also duplicated the approach of Agnew. In a New York Times article in 1970, while Agnew was still vice president, the historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., described the strategy well (”The Amazing Success Story of ‘Spiro Who?’” July 26, 1970): (boldface mine)

His (Agnew’s) heart is, however, deeply in another range of questions. Historians, notably Richard Hofstadter, have drawn a distinction between “interest politics” and “status politics.” Interest politics revolves around conflicts of policy: whether we should raise or lower the interest rate, encourage or obstruct collective bargaining, extend or abolish farm price supports. Status politics revolves around personal values and folkways, social aspirations and frustrations, religious traditions and ethnic identifications-those intangibles which, without finding explicit embodiment in political issues, nevertheless affect the climate of politics and sometimes, especially when economic prosperity reduces the pressure of interest politics, determine political results. It is cultural politics, and not public policy which is the Vice President’s bag. He has emerged as hero, or villain, not in the battle of programs but in the battle of life styles.

And hiding Sarah

In Palin’s case, this “status politics” weapon of attack is also, of necessity, accompanied by an even more brutal one — her persistence in grossly misrepresenting (completely denying, actually) her own official record that, among other things, certainly belies her efforts to present herself as a fiscal reformist.

A second striking factor in the similarities between Agnew and Palin, as mentioned above, is the slim political resume of both. And the third is the twin clouds of ongoing investigations for corruption while in office — one such cloud hovered over Agnew just as a major one now hangs over Palin. Agnew’s eventual fate was a criminal conviction that forced his resignation from office.

Here’s hoping that if a similar fate is in store for Palin, the resignation will be from the office of Governor of Alaska, and nothing more.

For those who weren’t around in those old Agnew days, or who may want a trip back in time, below is a video of former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite discussing Nixon’s surprise vp choice, and Agnew himself at his first press conference as vp candidate.

In an interview earlier today, Nouriel Roubini from New York University’s Stern School of Business explained what many people are most worried about (the FDIC), why they’re right, and how long the tough times are going to last (”Top Economist: Americans Should Worry About Bank Deposits if Congress Doesn’t Act” by Aaron Task, Yahoo! Finance, Sept 15, 2008). See article and video here.

Unequivocal answer to the question at the end of this video. No! I! Don’t!