I enjoyed reading this but I am dumbfounded by the ending. As much as Trump isn’t a paragon of diplomacy (nor were Obama or Biden they just had a rapt unearned audience and Biden could barely compose people felt sorry for him) you yourself mentioned British security institutions ignoring condoning hiding mass torture terror and rape. How is that on Trump? How is it on Trump when a British policeman tells a Jew his kippah is an instigation and he can’t protect him. How is it Trump when Germans post a sign at public pools for chubby middle aged European women not to molest legless dark immigrants. I didn’t make the sign. If a more diplomatic conservative was in power I do not think it would halt what is going on at all. There’s a strong movement not just in America but in Europe to label anyone not left far right. It’s so ridiculous and obnoxious and you rarely see if at all far left funny that. I think unfortunately you’re dreaming about something that won’t be without a change in leadership in europe. It won’t necessarily be left right it’s more likely to be a demagogue on either side. And probably too late
1) This is exceptionally well-written, kudos. 2) It's also an excellent critique of Europe's immigration policy missteps and their repeated failures to learn any lessons from those missteps. 3) While I definitely agree that Trump's persona makes most Europeans immediately disregard whatever he has to say (and that's a problem more broadly), it's Europe's failure to learn that makes me a bit skeptical that a better American messenger would make a tangible difference on this particular issue. For whatever reason, meaningful immigration reform seems, to me at least, to require the call coming from inside the house to get the attention of leadership.
Ethos is a powerful thing, and the Trump administration hasn't valued it wisely. It doesn't help when individuals in the administration seem to work at cross purposes with one another, intentionally and unintentionally...
You and I are in different places on the political spectrum, and precisely because of that, I appreciate your perspective. You have established a strong ethos with me, so your logos and pathos come across with no "loss of signal"! Grace and strength to you. Keep up the good work.
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...about "loss of signal": Sometimes the metaphor of radio communication can convey the importance of ethos to people: accurate radio transmission depends on the signal-to-noise ratio, and lack of ethos or negative ethos is "noise." The strength and frequency of the signal won't matter if it's garbled with noise.
This metaphor also accurately explains the impact of social media distortions by both algorithms optimizing for outrage and individual human trolls, and especially intentionally misleading fake accounts & bot networks used as tools to deceive and inflame. These all act in the same way that electronic warfare acts on radio communication! No wonder we're having such trouble finding the common ground that is still right there... we can't see it through the chaff and dazzle, we must feel our way forward.
But when we do, we will find that common ground and mutual respect despite our differences!
I enjoyed reading this but I am dumbfounded by the ending. As much as Trump isn’t a paragon of diplomacy (nor were Obama or Biden they just had a rapt unearned audience and Biden could barely compose people felt sorry for him) you yourself mentioned British security institutions ignoring condoning hiding mass torture terror and rape. How is that on Trump? How is it on Trump when a British policeman tells a Jew his kippah is an instigation and he can’t protect him. How is it Trump when Germans post a sign at public pools for chubby middle aged European women not to molest legless dark immigrants. I didn’t make the sign. If a more diplomatic conservative was in power I do not think it would halt what is going on at all. There’s a strong movement not just in America but in Europe to label anyone not left far right. It’s so ridiculous and obnoxious and you rarely see if at all far left funny that. I think unfortunately you’re dreaming about something that won’t be without a change in leadership in europe. It won’t necessarily be left right it’s more likely to be a demagogue on either side. And probably too late
1) This is exceptionally well-written, kudos. 2) It's also an excellent critique of Europe's immigration policy missteps and their repeated failures to learn any lessons from those missteps. 3) While I definitely agree that Trump's persona makes most Europeans immediately disregard whatever he has to say (and that's a problem more broadly), it's Europe's failure to learn that makes me a bit skeptical that a better American messenger would make a tangible difference on this particular issue. For whatever reason, meaningful immigration reform seems, to me at least, to require the call coming from inside the house to get the attention of leadership.
Insightful as always!
Ethos is a powerful thing, and the Trump administration hasn't valued it wisely. It doesn't help when individuals in the administration seem to work at cross purposes with one another, intentionally and unintentionally...
You and I are in different places on the political spectrum, and precisely because of that, I appreciate your perspective. You have established a strong ethos with me, so your logos and pathos come across with no "loss of signal"! Grace and strength to you. Keep up the good work.
.
.
...about "loss of signal": Sometimes the metaphor of radio communication can convey the importance of ethos to people: accurate radio transmission depends on the signal-to-noise ratio, and lack of ethos or negative ethos is "noise." The strength and frequency of the signal won't matter if it's garbled with noise.
This metaphor also accurately explains the impact of social media distortions by both algorithms optimizing for outrage and individual human trolls, and especially intentionally misleading fake accounts & bot networks used as tools to deceive and inflame. These all act in the same way that electronic warfare acts on radio communication! No wonder we're having such trouble finding the common ground that is still right there... we can't see it through the chaff and dazzle, we must feel our way forward.
But when we do, we will find that common ground and mutual respect despite our differences!