Snub me once, we are done, snub me again, do not come back
Trump knows that public snubs end a relationship as quickly as possible. He knows how to be efficient.
Author Archives: Steven Greffenius
Do you think I’m stupid? Social affiliation based on beliefs
When you start to feel that people respect you and like you primarily because of what you believe, you are going to feel lonely. Unconditional love is the only kind worth having, or giving.
Fake news as a social phenomenon
We are all Cartesians in that respect. God created us to follow his light, which is to say, our own inner voice. Nothing in the world, outside of our minds, contradicts that creative principle.
James Clapper and the agony of American democracy
We’re happy to hear the Russians swung the election, J. C. We admire you for your perspicacity. Now invite Mr. Putin over for a congratulatory drink. Give him a signed copy of your book.
Non-proliferation the American way
Strong powers, secure in their leadership, do not have to fight wars. Rising powers pick their fights and win. Declining powers pick their fights, too, but victory escapes them.
Safety issues
I suppose we should expect that people so conscious of their own safety, so willing to gin up threats to advance their political aims, would also threaten others to make them feel unsafe. However your opponents respond, they lose.
Wicked policy, cruelty openly advocated
To end with a last observation about Gina Haspel. I expect that if I had lunch with her, I would leave with the impression she is a kind, dedicated, and thoughtful woman.
War, politics, and law
As Robert Mueller pushes his investigation to new matters irrelevant to the 2016 campaign, I see the phrase rule of …
Stormy way out
If you want to unelect him, your first strategy would not be to sic the Justice Department and the rest of the security state on him. That will not work, especially not if a dried-up sex scandal and poorly laundered hush money underpin your case. If you cannot find leaders who have a better strategy than that, close up your shop.
Syrian war seven years later
The same contagion affects North Africa and the Middle East now. Journalists looked at the spreading fire seven years ago, and optimistically called it the Arab Spring. You don’t hear that term, or any other hopeful description now.
Social connection and conflict
From time to time you hear me mention a concept called the social organism. It’s not so easy to define, …
Warriors vs. guardians
The exaggerated, grievously mistaken threat estimates that justify one use of lethal force after another result from poorly prepared police officers who treat too many situations like battlefield survival decisions. A gross mismatch exists between their mental state, and their actual environment out in neighborhoods.
