Civilization Jumps the Shark

As many of you know in pop culture, “jump the shark” is a term to describe a moment when something that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline, losing its quality and generally marking the tipping point at which collapse in popularity is imminent. I was old enough to watch the Fonz jump the actual shark, and even as a kid thought it ridiculous. Despite my generally optimistic view of the future and of possibilities, it has started to “feel” like civilization has jumped the shark. We live in a time where voices like Glenn Beck are considered credible, when only a couple thousand years ago Aristotle and Socrates would have been considered thought leaders (talk about a decline in standards). We live in a time where the competition between intellectual thought and logic must compete with dogma and belief, as if it were a fair fight. One requires rigorous testing and reproduction of consistent results in order to be recognized. The other requires nothing other than a fervent position, a belief, based on zero evidence. Moreover, our civilization somehow holds both approaches in equal regard.

To further this disconnect, people that claim to have seen UFOs are considered crackpots yet those that believe in gods and angels are assigned credibility. Civilization has taken some serious hits out of this imbalance between reality and fantasy, from the way we treat each other to the way we treat the planet. We live in a time where the level of intellectual laziness has reached new heights, where “tea parties” are held without tea – arguments without substance. We live in a time where those substance-free arguments are held out like “real issues” and are defended vigorously with righteous anger and indignation. Lately, the news cycle has begun to discuss whether “civility” (e.g. Joe, town hall meetings, etc.) is on the decline in America, but they are missing a grander point. Civilization itself is on the plank. It is on the plank because we as active participants in our collective experiment are intellectually dishonest about what is required to propel us forward and ensure we thrive as a species in the future.

The divide between those that want us to progress as a species, and those that want us to “go back” is widening and as long as both paths are held up to be equally credible, this divide could fracture the foundation that we have built civilization on. There is a truism in nature and in evolution, that which does not adapt to its changing environment will cease to exist. To evolve and progress is a “natural” thing to do for everything; be it a planet, an animal, a human, even a software program. To deny this force is to hold back our true potential, and to invite catastrophe into the living room of humanity. I would have to say that I have been forced to downgrade my rating for civilization’s odds for survival from optimistic to ”cautiously optimistic”, and am concerned that it is teetering on pessimistic.

Lou Dobbs Claims Earth Could Be Flat

Some years ago I recall having some measure of respect for Lou Dobbs. He seemed to have an even keel, and tried to be factual and objective about stories he covered. But over time, Lou seemed to drift towards more of a Glenn Beck clone, or some other Fox entertainer. He lost objectivity in favor of sensationalism. He became known for the “border issue” and for the most part became singularly identified with anything immigration. But then, something happened. Obama became President. It is no secret that Obama has made comments about Lou’s inflammatory  approach to the border issue, and that Lou has no love for Obama.

But, Lou’s real transformation from objective news man to opinionated shameless entertainer is in no way more profound than in his recent “reporting” of the “birthers’” and their looney claims of Obama not being an American born citizen. Now, it is a sad state of affairs that the news in general has become such a sham and in my eyes looks more and more like so called “professional wrestling” before they came out and clean telling the world they were really entertainment. The news should follow suit and be forced to add the word entertainment to news, which would at least be more honest. But, this reality doesn’t let Lou off the hook with this issue and exposes him to be intellectually bankrupt when it comes to reporting on real issues with honest analysis.

CNN/US President Jon Klein declared the issue a “dead story” but that hasn’t stopped Lou Dobbs from pretending this is a real issue that needs thorough analysis. What it is in fact is a total embarrassment and exposes that the emperor wears no clothes. Lou has even gone so far as to thank Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly for defending his right to report on the birther movement (excuse me while I dry heave), even though O’Reilly called the story “bogus.”

So, where do we end up with this one? We end up in the realm of the fact free zone. The world is flat, and all the facts in the world don’t amount to a hill of beans.

Much of History Written on an Etch-a-Sketch

Lately I have been pondering how information seems to always come under dispute and debate, and interpretation of that information is often a tug-of-war between opposing view points. We have all heard the adage that “history is written by the victors” but what is often over looked is that the victors seem to not even be able to agree on what actually happened. So, whomever has the most leverage and influence decides what the approved version is for what went down. This system of historical scribing plays across political, religious, even familial realms.

People tend to presume that the version of history they understand as truth is seen as concrete, as if it is a perfect interpretation free of imperfections. This mentality towards history is especially profound within religious groups. The thing that has been really striking me lately is that how can people be so quick to accept historical “facts” with such certainty, while fully aware of how lamely modern people process, analyze, and interpret what is happening at any given moment. We all know the children’s game, telephone. Telephone teaches you that people are completely full of shit as they “pass on” information to the next person. Yet, this simplistic understanding of human nature seems to be given a pass in terms of historical reference and interpretation.

Just today, I saw an article on CNN.com talking about how LBJ and Reagan loyalists are clashing over the Obama agenda and how it compares or repeats aspects of their respective celebrity. A group of very smart, well-educated people sit on either side of an issue and basically out-argue the other side, and at some point in the future some version of these arguments and historical interpreting becomes the facts. I think it a bit funny that for all of the supposed intellectual power of the human mind, people pretty much can’t agree on anything. What’s worse is that many people are willing to just agree with a viewpoint that is somewhat compliant with their own quick read, and never bother to dive any deeper to really understand or gain an educated slant on their view.

But, even if you are diligent enough to really immerse yourself in an issue and feel confident that you really grasp the supposed “truth” of the matter, you then just find yourself in a new group of supposed experts that are all arguing over the correct interpretation. History is rife with examples of information squabbling and agreement on facts. A great example is the First Council of Nicaea, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine to settle differences of opinion within Christianity. Costantine put the word out to 1800 Bishops and convened this group to sort out some serious issues relating to “heresy” (spare me) and a bevy of problems related to interpretation and validation of certain doctrines.

It is striking how they are arguing about subjects that were argued about, and these subjects are still argued about today. What is even more striking is when you hear a modern day expert interpret the past with absolute conviction even they are now the farthest away from said point in history. I can’t say I have a solution to this, especially since I recognize the value of learning from past experience. In order to really learn from the past, you really need to understand what happened to you first. Obviously this is easier on an individual level, but it seems to fog greatly the larger the issue gets and the farther you get from it in history.

Stick that in your Etch-a-Sketch and shake it.

Glenn Beck is an Idiotic Windbag

Some of my favorite comedic minds (Stewart, Colbert, Maher) have been taking a lot of shots lately at Glenn Beck, with the crying breakdown on his show recently being the primary object of ridicule. So, it has been a while since I have had the stomach to force Fox down without some sort of indigestion, I thought I should see for myself. Last night I turned on the tube and tuned in for a bit of Glenn Beck. It seemed to start off pretty normal (for Fox) and at about 2 mins in I thought to myself, what’s all the hubbub, he seems harmless enough. At about 3 mins the wheels came completely off the tricycle.

He opened the show by apologizing for being wrong about Obama leading us into socialism, and that he had more to share on that, but by 3 mins in he was sitting in front of a green screen of marching Nazis and claiming Obama is leading us straight into fascism. He asserted that Obama is out to recreate America in the fashion of 1984, and the effect of the green screen was dramatic to say the least. To me his entire argument seems disingenuous at best, and yet another attempt at changing the definition of a word like the hatchet job done to the word “liberal”.

Let’s take the classic definition of fascism at wikipedia and see how close Glenny (I can call you Glenny,right?) gets. Score a 1 for so far off base it isn’t even funny and perhaps time to get Beck a nice white jacket to wear in a calming white padded room, and score a 5 for right on, now let’s get a national uniform with a cool emblem on it and learn the goose step:

• Fascism is a radical, authoritarian nationalist ideology that aims to create a single-party state with a government led by a dictator who seeks national unity and development by requiring individuals to subordinate self-interest to the collective interest of the nation or race. Score: 3 - I give Glenny a 3 here because I could see how a loony would take this definition and attempt to graft it on to the shitty economical issues we face. So, even though a stretch, I will give him a 3.
• Fascist movements promote violence between nations, political factions, and races as part of a social Darwinist and militarist stance that views violence between these groups as a natural and positive part of evolution. Score: 1 -Time for the padded cell Glenny. Obama doesn’t project any of this and this begins to show your intellectual criminality by attempting to paint his efforts as fascism.
• In the view of these groups being in perpetual conflict, fascists believe only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and have an aggressive warrior mentality by conquering, dominating, and eventually eliminating people deemed weak and degenerate. Score: 1 - Ok, so again, I think we can book him a comfy room at the bonkers hotel. At about 3:00 in to his speech, he gets on a roll with 1984.
• Fascist governments forbid and suppress all criticism and opposition to the government and the fascist movement. Score: 1 - Running out of witty things to say about rubber rooms and straight jackets.
• Fascist movements oppose any ideology or political system that gives direct political power to people as individuals through elected representatives rather than as a collective nation or race (individualism, liberalism, representative democracy); that is deemed detrimental to national identity and unity (communism, class conflict oriented labour movements, internationalism, and laissez-faire capitalism); that protects and empowers people deemed weak and degenerate (egalitarianism) and that undermine the military strength and military ambitions of the nation (pacifism); that may seek to preserve any of the privileges, institutions and cultural values that fascism seeks to overthrow (traditionalism and conservatism). Score: 1 - Once again, totally off the reservation. True fascism can’t really take a foothold without nutty nationalism to go along with it. Obama has been warning countries all over the world to not turn inward, that it is time to work together to solve our problems on our every shrinking planet.

I would ask, what is the litmus test for intelligence for hosting a show on Fox? Shouldn’t you be able to read? Understand definitions of words? Be able to articulate a position that doesn’t have holes large enough to drive semis through? From my perspective, Glenny Beck and mentally challenged nitwits like him (don’t get me started on Rush Windbag) are dangerous. They issue rally cries without much substance behind their arguments, and play on peoples fears and insecurities. I am sick and tired of weasels like Beck expousing their verbal vomit and not getting called on it. I think Beck, and simpletons like him, represent far more of a threat to our Country than terrorism.

It is time for people like us, and other personalities in the media to stand up and set idiots like these straight. They need to be publicly dressed down and exposed for being misleading windbags and we need to return to a time where people actually bother to educate themselves. If we don’t, we are participating in our own downfall.

Outlawing the Color Black to Save Planet Earth

I have been exposed to more than my fair share of dimwitted ideas, but this one earns a place in the top 10. Apparently, the California Air Resources Board is pushing a new “cool paints” initiative which is a strategy based on measures to reduce the solar heat gain in a vehicle parked in the sun. All dark colors are targeting, but the color black has been deemed especially nasty and may be a color on the chopping block.

Now, I get what their intention is and I also get that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. The logic is that the reflective nature of dark auto paints, especially black, raise the interior temperature of a car such that people use their air conditioner too much. So, this measure is being ushered into existence to mitigate this hot car phenomenon. What’s next? Outlawing black clothing? Should we paint dark-skinned humans white so they don’t get hot and use more indoor air conditioning (Is this a sketch for Saturday Night Live, or what?)?

Why not attempt to capture the heat energy and use it to cool the car? Why not any number of ideas for solving the hot cabin problem other than outlawing colors. I applaud the resolve of California to take a leadership position in reducing CO2 and reducing energy consumption, but at some point it seems we would all be better served by a tighter relationship between government and business to solve problems, rather than mandating policies that sound silly and may not even be feasible or achievable. Air resource wonks shouldn’t be dictating “how” problems are solved, but they could identify problems to be solved and work with the private sector to design practical solutions.

Turning to Google instead of God

With the economic downturn in full swing, people are exploring many different ways of coping. This piece I read on CNN talks a bit about what people are doing; joining non-profits, watching tv, going to the movies, etc. The part that really raised my eyebrows though was the section titled, “Turning to Google Instead of God”. This quote from the piece, “Folks might not turn to God as much as they turn to Google,” said Nancy Dallavalle, chairwoman of the Department of Religious Studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Apparently, using Google to find self-help, mentors, new things to do, etc. is syphoning off believers in droves. So I got to thinking about this and decided to try a few myself, and unlike prayer I got immediate results and in fractions of a second!

Here is what I tried:

1. Be more successful – 1 – 10 of about 62,400,000 for be more successful. (0.22 seconds): Great articles on improving your success, even now; Top result: top 7 tips to be more successful at anything
2. Make more money – 1 – 10 of about 192,000,000 for make more money. (0.33 seconds): Surprisingly interesting content on making money; Top result: 11 ways to earn more money
3. Score chicks – 1 – 10 of about 283,000 for score chicks. (0.19 seconds): I couldn’t help myself, just too funny to pass up; Top result: “Score a hottie”
4. Cure my baldness - 1 – 10 of about 1,460,000 for cure my baldness. (0.25 seconds): Okay, I have a full head of hair but I was trying to get into the mind of the praying party: Top result: Potential Baldness Cure Leads Man to Reverse Stand on Stem Cells (The Onion)
5. Exorcise demons – 1 – 10 of about 264,000 for exorcise demons. (0.25 seconds): Doesn’t everyone need a good demon cleanse now and again? Top result: How to perform a Christian exorcism

Not only did I get great results, in an instant, but rather than waiting for a invisible diety to solve my problems the Google God provides ways for me to help myself. Hey? Isn’t that a religulous line, (Google) God only helps those that help themselves?

Green is More Than the New Black, it’s the Wholesale Change of Everything

It is sooo cliche’ to say green is the new black, so I will go one step further by stating green is more than the new black. Not since the onset of the Internet wave have we seen such momentum and magnitude, so much so that I feel I can confidently predict it will dwarf the Internet in scope and scale. What we are witnessing is different than just a technology trend, we are witnessing a changing of the guard from the industrial revolution to a clean revolution.

This revolution requires taking a look at everything we make, and everything we do, and reviewing it through green tinted lenses. The opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs in green far eclipse mere techno-fads because this is more than just a market, it is a multitude of markets. This shift to green represents the wholesale change of everything. It is not just about energy and getting off of foreign oil, it is about efficiency, it is about ingredients, it is about reducing costs, it is about improving our existence.

With the nasty state of worldwide financial markets and our own economy in tatters, green also represents the best bet for reigniting growth and prosperity. From every corner of every market green is making what was once boring, sexy. At my own company, Integrity Block, we have figured out a way to make a green replacement for concrete block. We have taken a 10,000 year old technology and reinvented it into the form factors of conventional concrete blocks, which have remained largely unchanged for a 140 years.

Another great example in our green building material neck of the woods is Serious Materials. Their CEO, Kevin Surace, sits on our board and recently revived a deceased windows company and has extreme visibility all the way to the White House. They are innovating better windows and drywall. Yes, I said DRYWALL!

The point is, being successful and capitalizing on the wave of green innovation could really mean just opening your eyes and looking around. Further, the impact of your innovation can be more far reaching and have a material impact on the world as opposed to just having your friends know how frustrated you are standing in line at the grocery store (I admit, I am getting twittered out – perhaps “twittigued?”).

Not only are there fantastic opportunities to innovate and create wealth, but the solutions created can often be understood by mere mortals. For example, for the first time in 20 years my mother can actually explain what I do to her friends. Now that is real innovation.

The War on Declaring War on Stupid Things

At a time when the world economy is reeling, and America is on its way to becoming a banana republic (can we grow bananas here?) you would think some degree of rationality would take hold with regard to lost causes (not so) cleverly masked as a “war” on something. The War on Drugs. The War on Terror. The War on Obesity. What’s next you ask? I propose the “The War on Declaring War on Stupid Things.”

The latest example of this lunacy, care of the War on Drugs, is the recent reporting on the Mexican drug cartels and their well-financed battles for market share with a mounting body count. As far as I can tell, history offers great lessons in what happens when you prohibit something in great demand. It creates a black market for the targeted products. Black markets don’t behave or follow the same rules as legit markets; disputes for market share are settled with machine guns and legal authorities aren’t lobbied, they’re shot dead. These wars are created by quite literally suspending reality. If demand is present, supply will follow. I think this quote from Mark Thornton from the Cato Institute states this very simply, “The evidence affirms sound economic theory, which predicts that prohibition of mutually beneficial exchanges is doomed to failure.”

We here in America love when war is declared on something. Perhaps it seems to feel as though something is being done about it, and who cares if it actually accomplishes anything. Another favorite of mine is the “War on Terror” which has no real face. Likely the Bush administration put Iraq on the hit list, at least in part, to try to legitimize this framing of the mission. By having no real specific face, it makes it easy to keep this particular “war” going in perpetuity. I have caught wind of Cheney and other Republicans stating that Obama is going to make us more vulnerable by canceling the war and going back to more of a police action.

Here is a quote from the Penguin himself, “We made a decision after 9/11 that I think was crucial. We said, ‘This is a war — it’s not a law enforcement problem,’” Mr. Cheney said. “When you go back to the law enforcement mode, which is what I sense [the Obama administration] is doing … they’re very much giving up that center of attention, of focus, that’s required — that concept of military threat that’s essential.”

Well, I would counter that when someone takes the time to call the FBI and report that people are training to fly airplanes, but don’t seem concerned with landing them that maybe they ought to pay attention? Being asleep at the wheel and not acting on actionable intelligence has much more to do with addressing our terror problem than “declaring war” on terror.

Stupidly declaring war on something doesn’t do much to solve actual problems, but it does make no-bid contracts possible, and it falsely legitimizes the highest prison population per capita in the world. We as taxpayers get the privilege of financing these flights of stupidity, and in times like these I believe we need rationality to take hold.

The SEC is Now Going to Train Their People (which I guess means answer the phone)

So, I ran across this article today in the news stating that the SEC is “ramping up training” to spot signs of Ponzi schemes after they got burned over “Made Off” (with the money). The thing that really bunches the undies on this though is that the real issue is they have had “no will” to do shit about this in the past, until the Madoff debacle.

For nine years the SEC had been warned that Madoff was operating something that just didn’t add up, and they were quite LITERALLY told it was a Ponzi scheme.

Executives at Rampart Investment group started noticing numbers didn’t jive, and over a 9 year period tried to get the SEC’s attention. Here is a quote from the article, “He sent a detailed memo to the SEC in 2005 with 29 red flags on Madoff’s operations that were never followed up by enforcement or Office of Compliance staff in a meaningful way.”

So now, the SEC has take heat and is trying to show that they can do something with their new training program. Well, here is a penny to buy a clue. How about you train your peope to answer the phone” and read the mail? Madoff should go to jail for 6 lifetimes for all the lives he’s ruined, but the SEC and the douche bags that let this happen, did exactly that, they LET it happen. I can’t believe they are trying to say they didn’t know about it. This is worse than “Osama Bin-Laden Determined to Strike the United States” because they had a specific address to work with.

It’s Not “Save the Planet”, It’s “Save Ourselves”

The climate is changing, and the change is likely going to come on faster and stronger over the coming years. While some may still be sticking their heads in the sand clinging to the argument that “we humans have done no harm”, reality is heading our way like an out of control freight train. The evidence is everywhere, and getting more palpable with each passing news story. For example, I just read that a group of crazy researchers are braving the inhospitable Arctic to give us a read on how rapidly we will be screwed.

The summary position of this piece is that we will see the Arctic go bye-bye soon, as soon as 2013 and no later than 2040. Sadly, most estimates made by scientists have been wildly off the mark and it seems as though the planet is going through changes faster than anticipated. I have said this many times to friends and colleagues, we need to change the argument from save the planet to save ourselves. This is about survival, not about debating who or what is responsible for climate change. Now I admit, I am a realist and there is too much scary data out there to side with the non-believers. The climate is changing, it’s picking up momentum, and we need to do more than drive less to fix the situation.

The reality is, I think we are passed the tipping point and the idea that we can halt or reverse changes to the climate seems fanciful at best. As humans we have been busily writing checks that we don’t actually have the money to cash, and although the new emphasis on ’saving the planet’ is a good thing I haven’t heard much conversation regarding what we are going to do now that we’re screwed. We need to save energy, we need to improve efficiency, we need to reduce CO2 output, all of these things are true and important. But, where are the published contingency plans for where people when the ocean rises by 5 feet within 90 years.

It seems as though we think that by merely changing our behavior in driving habits and energy usage we think that this will be enough to hold back, or turn back, the tides of climate change. Roughly 600 million people, or 10% of the world’s population, live in areas near coastlines that would be displaced by rising sea levels. If you begin to link where we are headed in terms of climate with the hockey stick projections in human population growth, pegged at 9 billion passengers by 2040, it starts to appear shaky at best that we have “what to do” well in hand.

Some out there suggest that we many have to colonize other planets by 2050 because we will have used this one up. Now that may sound a bit crazy, but it does provide laser focus on what I am talking about. Not only to we need to figure out how to live in a sustainable way, but we need to figure out how to do it while going through the most explosive human growth ever while the planet is warming and resources are dwindling. This sounds like a crappy hand of poker to me. We have moved passed the point where a magic silver bullet can solve our problems – they are complex, they are integrated, they are a forthcoming reality that is alarming and humbling.

The green economy is a great first start, but our reality is changing really fast. We are going to have to broaden our perspective and realize that we are not going to turn back the forces of climate change anytime soon and we had better prepare to deal with the inevitable changes our species is going to face before these changes are upon us.