TLP Week in Review, 10/1-10/7
TLP Week in Review, 10/1-10/7
Your weekly summary of what we've been up to here at The Liberal Patriot.
What We’re Reading (and Watching and Listening To…)
“Thoughts on Techno-optimistic Socialism”: On his Substack, Brink Lindsey asks whether or not the left be can Promethean—pro-progress and optimistic. Over the last number of decades that kind of approach has fallen out of fashion in left intellectual circles, but it may be making a comeback. Lindsey discusses some of the important recent left thinkers who have moved in this direction and outlines how much needs to be done to flesh out this emerging school of thought.
“Who elects these clowns, exactly? As it turns out, almost none of us”: Washington Post opinion editor Karen Tumulty summarizes the results of research by the election reform group Unite America that finds a small number of hyper-partisan and -ideological primary voters responsible for electing far-right extremists who habitually threaten to shut down the government and wreck the economy if they don’t get their way—and even if they do.
“AI’s Present Matters More Than Its Future”: Inioluwa Deborah Raji makes the case in The Atlantic for less hot air and more expertise in Congress about new technology—“AI can be the enthused pitch of a marketing executive. Or it can be the exhausted sigh of someone tired and perhaps confused about how minute engineering decisions could upend their entire life. As lawmakers finally start to make moves on AI, we all have a choice about whom we listen to.”
“Treading Cautiously on Shifting Sands: An Assessment of Biden’s Middle East Policy Approach, 2021-2023”: TLP’s Brian Katulis assesses the Biden administration’s approach to the Middle East across three phases—where they’ve succeeded and where they’ve come up short.
Flora and Son: A sweet dramedy about the power of music to forge connections near and far in which a foul-mouthed Dublin single mother (Eve Hewson, daughter of U2 frontman Bono) takes remote guitar lessons from an LA musician (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) while struggling to raise a son teetering on the edge of juvenile delinquency.
What We’ve Posted
“America Needs to Build More (and Better) Ships: Why American military power depends on the health of its maritime industries,” by TLP contributor Michael D. Purzycki.
“The Gaping Hole in the Center of the Electorate,” by TLP contributor John B. Judis.
“The Insidious Lie That We Can’t Understand Each Other,” cross-posted book chapter from The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounk.
“How Biden’s Economic Policies Outperform ‘Bidenomics’,” by TLP editor-in-chief John Halpin.
“The Rising Tide of Conservative Isolationism,” by TLP senior managing editor Peter Juul.
“Israeli Democracy and the Future of U.S.-Israel Relations,” by Israel Policy Forum Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow.
Ruy’s Science-Fiction Pulp Cover of the Week
Just one more thing…
It’s that time of year again—Fat Bear Week! A dysfunctional Congress couldn’t stop the perennial favorite tournament from taking place. Get your vote in soon for Ursus hosses like “Chunk”, “Grazer”, and “Bucky”.
