One question I am getting a fair bit these days from German friends and family is: how come Republican politicians keep supporting Trump? Why aren’t more individual representatives speaking out, say calling for an independent investigation of potential interference by Russia? By what mechanism are they being held in line with party leadership? In Germany there is a well understood mechanism of “party discipline” that arises from the party’s role in arranging the “list order,” which is the ord...

One question I am getting a fair bit these days from German friends and family is: how come Republican politicians keep supporting Trump? Why aren’t more individual representatives speaking out, say calling for an independent investigation of potential interference by Russia? By what mechanism are they being held in line with party leadership? In Germany there is a well understood mechanism of “party discipline” that arises from the party’s role in arranging the “list order,” which is the ord...

I have lots of thoughts about the outcome of the US election but have been letting them ruminate to avoid contributing to the cacophony of hot takes. Here is a first bit that I feel strongly about as it ties into topics that I have covered repeatedly here on Continuations. I have been writing about the danger of the “filter bubble” on and off over the years and have called for an “opposing view” reader. I have also written about the danger of “information cascades.” This election has definite...

I have lots of thoughts about the outcome of the US election but have been letting them ruminate to avoid contributing to the cacophony of hot takes. Here is a first bit that I feel strongly about as it ties into topics that I have covered repeatedly here on Continuations. I have been writing about the danger of the “filter bubble” on and off over the years and have called for an “opposing view” reader. I have also written about the danger of “information cascades.” This election has definite...

You may have noticed that my posting here on Continuations has been sporadic at best these past few weeks. The reason is simple. I have felt downbeat by what’s been happening in the world and the United States. The rolling back of democracy across the globe in favor or populist authoritarians is depressing. I am asking myself how I will judge in the future what I did personally to try and stop it. And for now I am not happy with the answer. I grew up in Germany at a time when many young peopl...

You may have noticed that my posting here on Continuations has been sporadic at best these past few weeks. The reason is simple. I have felt downbeat by what’s been happening in the world and the United States. The rolling back of democracy across the globe in favor or populist authoritarians is depressing. I am asking myself how I will judge in the future what I did personally to try and stop it. And for now I am not happy with the answer. I grew up in Germany at a time when many young peopl...

Confidence in the US Congress is near an all time low according to a Gallup poll on “Confidence in Institutions.” People have stopped trusting government. And government has done a lot to deserve it. Politicians have taken huge sums of money from special interests and partisan divides have deadlocked government on important issues. Add to that the secret surveillance of the population by the NSA and other agencies as revealed by Edward Snowden. At the same time income inequality in the US has...

Confidence in the US Congress is near an all time low according to a Gallup poll on “Confidence in Institutions.” People have stopped trusting government. And government has done a lot to deserve it. Politicians have taken huge sums of money from special interests and partisan divides have deadlocked government on important issues. Add to that the secret surveillance of the population by the NSA and other agencies as revealed by Edward Snowden. At the same time income inequality in the US has...

This is a short follow up to my Friday post which argued for protest over more crypto and received a lot of critical comments. Based on these here are my replies to the key questions / objections: 1. The most common comment was – why not do both? Why not more crypto and protest? In fact won’t we need to crypto to protest? Doing both suggests that doubling down on crypto is a viable strategy. It is not – the more we invest in this now the more we expend resources on an unwinnable arms race (if...

This is a short follow up to my Friday post which argued for protest over more crypto and received a lot of critical comments. Based on these here are my replies to the key questions / objections: 1. The most common comment was – why not do both? Why not more crypto and protest? In fact won’t we need to crypto to protest? Doing both suggests that doubling down on crypto is a viable strategy. It is not – the more we invest in this now the more we expend resources on an unwinnable arms race (if...

I have been writing here on Continuations and in my book World After Capital that we need to be vigilant and defend democracy. Many people are taking the Brexit vote as evidence that direct democracy is a bad idea. While I am not necessarily a strong advocate for direct democracy I do think this conclusion is flawed. The UK does not have a direct democracy culture. In fact this is only the third referendum ever held in the UK! Why does this matter? Because if you want any shot at direct democ...

I have been writing here on Continuations and in my book World After Capital that we need to be vigilant and defend democracy. Many people are taking the Brexit vote as evidence that direct democracy is a bad idea. While I am not necessarily a strong advocate for direct democracy I do think this conclusion is flawed. The UK does not have a direct democracy culture. In fact this is only the third referendum ever held in the UK! Why does this matter? Because if you want any shot at direct democ...

I was hoping not to write about the Government Shutdown and the looming debt ceiling. But with us entering the second week of this madness it is becoming hard to ignore and my European friends are beginning to send concerned or enraged emails. So here are my current views. 1. I may be in the minority here but I believe the financial markets would not completely seize up on a technical default by the government. It wouldn’t be pretty but I think enough folks understand the difference between t...

I was hoping not to write about the Government Shutdown and the looming debt ceiling. But with us entering the second week of this madness it is becoming hard to ignore and my European friends are beginning to send concerned or enraged emails. So here are my current views. 1. I may be in the minority here but I believe the financial markets would not completely seize up on a technical default by the government. It wouldn’t be pretty but I think enough folks understand the difference between t...

So the sentence for Chelsea Manning is 35 years. The intention of government here is obvious: like everything else in the ridiculously harsh treatment of Manning it is an attempt to deter others from leaking information. So is the detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner under the Terrorism Act in the UK and the destruction of computer equipment at the Guardian’s offices. The game plan is clearly to intimidate any potential leakers and anyone who might help them. This is an extra...

So the sentence for Chelsea Manning is 35 years. The intention of government here is obvious: like everything else in the ridiculously harsh treatment of Manning it is an attempt to deter others from leaking information. So is the detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner under the Terrorism Act in the UK and the destruction of computer equipment at the Guardian’s offices. The game plan is clearly to intimidate any potential leakers and anyone who might help them. This is an extra...

I have been meaning to write about my recent experience with Google App Engine and also about the Pokemon Go phenomenon. And I will eventually do so, but given the events in the US this past week these topics seem trivial to me at the moment. The statistics make it abundantly clear that deadly force is used by police against Black Americans at a much higher rate than against whites. When you add that to statistics about incarceration, poverty, disease and more the weight of evidence on the lo...

I have been meaning to write about my recent experience with Google App Engine and also about the Pokemon Go phenomenon. And I will eventually do so, but given the events in the US this past week these topics seem trivial to me at the moment. The statistics make it abundantly clear that deadly force is used by police against Black Americans at a much higher rate than against whites. When you add that to statistics about incarceration, poverty, disease and more the weight of evidence on the lo...

The terror attacks in Paris, just like other terror attacks before them including 9/11, are a challenge to core democratic values of tolerance and freedom of speech. Turning against Muslims or against refugees is a terrible response as it only confirms the apocalyptic ideology of the attackers. Insisting on a primacy of individual privacy and government secrecy and continuing down a path of moral relativism is, however, equally doomed as a response. Let me start with moral relativism. Now wou...

The terror attacks in Paris, just like other terror attacks before them including 9/11, are a challenge to core democratic values of tolerance and freedom of speech. Turning against Muslims or against refugees is a terrible response as it only confirms the apocalyptic ideology of the attackers. Insisting on a primacy of individual privacy and government secrecy and continuing down a path of moral relativism is, however, equally doomed as a response. Let me start with moral relativism. Now wou...