Category: Other

Category that captures the Other Relevant Political Posts I’ve made that aren’t RBTE related.

Don’t bring checkers to a chess match

On By brainsbriIn Observations, Other, Personal Development, Perspectives, Politics, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Recent events sparked some new thoughts on a concept I introduced in a previous post.

Pay attention to the rules before engaging in the game. Intimately understand the system and identify the levers that achieve maximum impact.

I did not participate in the 28 February economic blackout:

  • It’s the wrong tool for the intended impact. Halting spending for one day seems significant to the average person, but it’s a rounding error – a mere blip – on the Income Statements of the targeted large-cap, multinational companies currently in the crosshairs. These companies measure their finances quarterly, in lockstep with financial markets – they easily absorb a single-day financial hit.
  • Going cold turkey never works anyway. Keeping the first bullet in mind, companies won’t even see the impact of a one-day sales drop if individuals switch back to regularly scheduled “spending” programs and merely shift planned blackout day purchases to the next day*. Abruptly halting all spending on a single day is not sustainable for the average consumer anyway, and the inevitable return to normal spending habits becomes a non-impact since those sales still appear on the same quarterly financial statement.

*We’ll ignore for now the rare instance where a blackout day falls on the last day of a fiscal quarter.

If financial impact was the goal, a barrage of wooden arrows just shattered against tank armor.

If the goal is to stand in solidarity with a specific community or cause – great.

Unify.

Drive change.

I support the intent – just recognize the false lever and re-evaluate the strategy.

So no, I did not participate in the Feb 28 economic blackout:

I did shop at local stores though – because I typically do anyway.

I still used my credit card sparingly – I always do anyway.

These two actions form the core of the normal spending habits I established over the past decade.

Looking to make an impact? I emphasized “normal spending habits” twice in this post for a reason. Incrementally alter daily habits, fiercely and resolutely guard that checking account, and allow the desired global impacts to become a side-effect of individual self-improvement.

Selective Individuality

On By brainsbriIn Other, Personal Development, Politics, Random Thoughts, Systems ThinkingLeave a comment

We scream from the rooftops that we want our independence. We need no one. We should be treated as individuals, and allow ourselves to live our lives.

Perfectly fair.

But unless you’re sewing your own clothes, building your own home, assembling your own car, generating your own electricity, and growing your own food, then you are obliged to acknowledge that you are reliant on others. Very few achieve – or even want, I’d argue – total independence.

We cannot selectively decide that we want individual treatment in certain situations that favor us, but then demand equitable treatment when the benefits are unfavorable.

We are a social species. Like it or not, we need each other. Embrace the help. Support your fellow humans.

The peril of indifference

On By brainsbriIn Other, Personal Development, PoliticsLeave a comment

Indifference runs wild without firm boundaries.

If you wait until you’re in the moment to decide where you stand, you will default to indifference, and eventually, with each passing decision, you’ll find yourself deep in enemy territory, condoning actions you abhor.

Define your positions and values ahead of time, so there’s no thought required when faced with tricky situations.

Debate yourself

On By brainsbriIn Other, Personal Development, Politics, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Locked in on a certain position?

Temporarily take the opposing viewpoint and come up with every possible counterargument imaginable.

Pick it apart. Take every angle you can think of to disprove what you think. You owe it to yourself to develop these counterpoints, as they’ll either disprove your original stance, or help you solidify it. Either outcome is acceptable. In the former case, you evolve your viewpoint. In the latter, you have a coherent and competent rebuttal if the position ever comes up in discussion.

Saying you believe something and then immediately relying on anger to defend it is unacceptable.

Develop a full case for your position so you can defend it properly – and respectfully.

Generalize wisely

On By brainsbriIn Other, Personal Development, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Generalizations are useful.

They can also mislead you.

We derive our generalizations from specific direct or anecdotal experiences so that we can subsequently recall them when our brains recognize something similar. From there, we should use that knowledge as a starting point to form a specific judgment about any new scenario. Generalizations are complex, however, and if we don’t develop and implement them properly, they can feed us false information. In order to prevent misuse we must:

  • Avoid adopting the generalizations of others without our own analysis
  • Prevent ourselves from blindly assigning our generalizations as fact toward every future scenario

It takes mental work to handle generalizations properly – making it very tempting to disregard these two bullets – but ignore them at your own peril. If you develop any mental statements that follow this structure:

“All [nouns] are [adjective].”

You are morally obligated to validate those assumptions when you apply them to future experiences. Generalizations are merely starting points – general mental models – from which you should then develop a unique judgement about a specific scenario. Otherwise, you may run the risk of misguiding yourself.

The consequences of taking shortcuts can vary immensely. Mindlessly applying your own generalization across all future circumstances is negligent. Doing the same with someone else’s generalization that you haven’t personally vetted is dangerous, especially when dealing with non-trivial subjects. Used incorrectly, you run the risk of inciting unjustified hatred.

Wield the power of generalization wisely, as the concept is more complex than it seems. Reclaim responsibility for developing your own generalizations, and implement them with care.