Wicked Problems:

"We suffer today from much more pluribus than unum."

   

A simple equation named “the monster” can help us think about wickedness: I = 2^(n(n-1)), where I is the number of states a system could have with n number of elements. Suppose all the components interact with one another straightforwardly. Then, a two-element system results in 4 states, and a three-element system has 64 states. In a ten-element system, the number of states will exceed the number of stars in our galaxy. While wicked problems are inherently complex, we increase their complexity with our human bramble of beliefs and deficits, paradoxes and priors.

We spray around “aerosol words,” easy to release but challenging to recapture. Think of some common terms: “society,” “sustainability,” “economy,” “equity,” “green,” “liberty,” “love,” “peace,” “progress,” “innovation,” “justice,” “diversity,” and “data.” Each word encompasses multiple, muddled meanings. Every aerosol word and its sense becomes a compromise, barely reached. And worse, wicked problems are invoked so often, they are tainted by simple familiarity. As I’ll argue in this book, engaging with wicked systems requires more than good intentions, creativity, and expertise. We need a communal code of conduct—or in an engineering sense, a concept of operations to train and treat our approaches to gain more profound improvements.

This book is double stranded. One strand follows a forgotten engineer; the other examines forgotten uses for engineering. Together, they weave an engineering vision for civics and a civic vision for engineering. While nonfiction, the book’s aspiration may feel like fiction. Engineers, after all, aren’t commonly invoked as pillars of democracy. Yet as we’ll see, engineering does more than tech support. Engineering is a carrier of history, simultaneously an instrument and the infrastructure of politics. It’s among the oldest cultural processes of know-how, far more ancient than the sciences of know-what. And through engineering, civics can gain a more structured, systemic, and survivable sense of purpose. By applying engineering concepts in a civic context, engineering can usefully grow the policy lexicon and enhance its cultural relevance. The usefulness of civics and engineering is often realized only in their breakdowns, much like trust, most longed for in their absence.

Democracy is the ultimate voice-activated application, defined by differences and decibels. Yet, there are no noise-canceling headphones. Unlike virtual assistants, democracies don’t simply yield to our vocal commands. Democracy is a perpetual raw material, never a finished product. Developing a civic consciousness to achieve democracy’s goals will fundamentally require a systems engineering approach, just as remedying the professional deficits of engineering will depend on civic participation. Indeed, civic engagement may exist without engineering, but no engineering can effectively exist without civic engagement.

This book will advance engineering concepts for cultural use. The driving desire is to responsibly appraise and engage with the inner nature and character of life’s wicked problems. As the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. memorably said, we suffer today from much more pluribus than unum. Our world thrives on variety and diversity. Still, curtailing chaos requires sufficient cohesion. We need civic operating standards. Better living with wickedness will depend on better engineering of wickedness. Civics and engineering aren’t just about what we choose to do; they are about what we choose to become…

Madhavan, Guru (2024-03-25T23:58:59.000). Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World. W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition. 

Read a review in my Science Magazine the other day. Stay tuned...

 

 Goes to my long-standing "Deliberation Science" itch (still irascibly ensconced in Scare Quotes).

UPDATE

Fascinating read. Wafts of Brian Klaas's "Flukes" arise. More on the way shortly...
_________

Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key I-695 highway bridge

Above: Prior to today.

 

Wow. An unreal day here. This Singapore-flagged container ship lost power at about 1:30 a.m. while leaving port and took out the bridge A 1.6 mile span, most of it gone in mere seconds There is live fixed-camera video footage of the impact and total collapse. Terrible.

We live on the north side of Baltimore city, just below Towson. The bridge that collapsed is just below Dundalk, southeast of downtown (red text). One of the nation's busiest international seaports. Tens of thousands of Baltimore area residents are about to lose their jobs in the wake of the lengthy economic disruptions shortly to ensue. Auto traffic here is about to go glacial. Like it wasn’t already.

Elon's Twitter "X" platform has been blazing with hyper-moronic troll crap all day. It's all Biden's fault; It was an ISIS attack; Putin's revenge; Invading Mexican illegals; Woke Libs are at fault; It’s the upshot of DEI…

"The bridge collapse is a tragedy. But for many on the right, it’s also an opportunity to spread conspiracy theories, encourage chaos, push bigotry and resentment, stoke fears, and do Donald Trump’s bidding by smearing Biden. This ugly response is a burden on those directly affected in Baltimore and elsewhere. It’s also a deliberate effort to undermine collective solidarity and resilience.

Far right populist rage makes it harder to respond to emergencies, and often compounds them in terrifying ways. Facing down disasters requires calm, deliberation, and a willingness to set aside one’s immediate comfort and fear for a broader good. The right’s go-to response of panic and paranoia makes us all less safe by sowing confusion and promoting a reactionary brand of politics.

Worms of the brain
Disasters are by their nature unexpected and chaotic. It can be difficult to figure out causes and responsibilities in the heat of the moment, especially when the first priority has to be to rescue victims, not to assign blame.

There will no doubt be an investigation into what happened on the container ship. All indications at the moment though are that the explanation for the disaster is what it appears to be in footage of the incident — the ship’s power failed, resulting in an unintentional collision with the bridge. President Joe Biden referred to the disaster as an “accident” in remarks on Tuesday.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said “there is absolutely no indication that there is any terrorism or that this was done on purpose.”
Have these reassurances stopped salivating MAGA vultures from rabid fear-mongering and irresponsible dipshittery?

No, of course not…" [ Brian Klaas ]

 

I THINK WE ALL NEED A GOOD LAUGH TODAY
  

ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

 CODA

The Francis Scott Key bridge SE of Baltimore came into service 47 yrs ago. It remains the size it was when completed. But, what is the average upper size differential of cargo ships passing under it (or, now, into it) today?

My son and his wife own a sailboat, which they dock in Fell’s Point. We've been out to the Key Bridge.

Terrible.

OH, AND ONE MORE THING

“When the Dali cargo ship demolished that bridge support on Tuesday, it also obliterated all the ridiculous lies and myths our demagogues have been spreading around immigration. There were no sex traffickers aboard the Key Bridge that night. Nobody was dealing fentanyl. They were not “animals,” but fathers and husbands like Suazo and Luna, whose wife occasionally showed up in her food truck to bring the men tacos and pupusas. They were filling potholes so their children could have an even better life.

These six workers who perished were not “poisoning the blood of our country,” they were replenishing it. This is a moment of clarity when we need to reject the national disease of xenophobia and restore our faith in the United States as a beacon for the best people like Suazo. They may have been born all over the continent, but when these men plunged into our waters on Tuesday, they died as Americans.”

_________

 

SPIRITUAL WARRIORS 2024

"Onward, Christian Soldiers..."

   

A follow-up to my recent post "Let Us Prey. U.S. Christian Nationalists are making plans for us."

 

Fully-recovered Episcopalian here (former choir boy). If I had a dollar for every time I had to sing that thing...

They're now apparently increasingly taking that "Christian Soldiers" thing literally ("Playtriots?" or, outright Insurrectionists?). We'll see, 'eh? I'm reminded of the marginally more secular yet equally poignant Bundys.

Current read (one of them). Almost done. Pretty sad, actually. What her parents called "righteous Christian Moral Upbringing" I call Child Abuse.

I wrote a song about religion once. Long time ago. Has sort of a 3/4 time Loggins & Messina 70’s groove to it.

Just getting started. Stay tuned. BTW: The "Spiritual Warriors" YouTube video came from this organization.

Click here.

Right up the road in Towson. I was not aware of them. Very good. Will have to study up.

UPDATES

 

apropos of the ICJS documentary at the top of this post:

 

A good use of an hour of your time

 

Also, I finished Sarah's book. It made me at once extremely sad and angry. Will have more to say there shortly. One excellent quote:

 

OK, I'll just drop this snippet in for now, from an October 2023 post of mine:

14.5 Living With Uncertainty
Without uncertainty, there would be no hope, no ethics, and no freedom of choice. It is only because we do not know what the future holds for us (e.g., the exact time and manner of our own deaths) that we can have hope. It is only because we do not know exactly the future results of our choices that our choice can be free, and can pose a true ethical dilemma. Moreover, there is much uncertainty in the world, and one of our most basic choices is whether we will accept that uncertainty as a fact or try to run away from it. Those who choose to deny uncertainty invent a stable world of their own. Such people’s natural desire to reduce uncertainty, which may be basic to the whole cognitive enterprise of understanding the world, is taken to the extreme point where they believe uncertainty does not exist…

Hastie, Reid; Dawes, Robyn M.. Rational Choice in an Uncertain World (p. 333). SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.

MONDAY NEWS

BUT, WAIT! THERE'S MORE...

We havin' fun yet?

 

Nonetheless, notwithstanding the yucks, let's not lose sight of the serious aspect (from my "Let Us Prey" post cited above).

Oh, please...

OK, Affirm or Deny whatever rings your bells to your hearts’ content. On your own dimes. Leave the rest of us out of it. We will not passively submit.

 

UPDATE per Dobbs

 

Tuesday March 26, 2023, SCOTUS Orals on outlawing mifepristone. 

_________

 

An Apple a day, and the DOJ

I eagerly await Kara Swisher's take on this.

 

Unapologetic Mac Snob here. First started using Apple products in 1991. Continued thereafter to use both Apple and MS Windoze platforms. Now I'm all Mac all the time. Really have no opinion as yet regarding this action against Apple. Looks like its really just focused on Mobile (e.g., App Store restraints of trade). Kara?

_________

 

Our Golden Age

TAKING HIM LITERALLY

Excerpted, March 2024 Trump MAGA campaign rally in Ohio. From “The.Ink,” at Substack by Anand Giridharadas

The Victim King

"Because I'm being indicted for you and never forget our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom.

I'm being persecuted. I think more than anybody, but who the hell knows? You know, all my life … you've heard of Andrew Jackson. He was actually a great general and a very good president. They say that he was persecuted as president more than anybody else. Second was Abraham Lincoln. This is just what they said. This is in the history books. They were brutal. Andrew Jackson's wife actually died over it, they say, died of a broken heart, but she died over it. He was never quite the same.

But they say Andrew Jackson, they say Abraham Lincoln was second, but he had a, you know, in all fairness, he did have a civil war. So you would think that would cause a problem, right? So you could understand it. But nobody comes close to Trump."

The Horst Wessel song

"And you see the spirit from the hostages, and that's what they are, is hostages. They've been treated terribly and very unfairly. And you know that. And everybody knows that. And we're going to be working on that soon. The first day we get into office, we're going to save our country, and we're going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots, and they were unbelievable patriots and are. You see the spirit, this cheering. They're cheering while they're doing that. And they did that in prison. And it's a disgrace, in my opinion."

The Big Lie

"I happen to think we won most of the country. You want to know the truth. If the voting…if the voting were real, I actually think we won most of the country.

I was asking Jim Jordan about it because he was commenting that we have the largest crowds in the history of politics. Nobody comes close. If Ronald Reagan came to a place called Dayton, Ohio — have you heard of it? If he came to Dayton, Ohio, honestly, J.D., if he had three or 400 people in a ballroom, that would be great. We get 25-30,000 people for a small rally…We had 88,000 people show up in South.Carolina."

Not even people

"They're very smart, very streetwise. And I would do the same thing. If I had prisons that were teeming with MS-13 and all sorts of people that they've got to take care of for the next 50 years, right? Young people, they're in jail for years. If you call them people, I don't know if you call them people. In some cases, they're not people, in my opinion. But I'm not allowed to say that because the radical left says that's a terrible thing to say…

We have so many people being hurt so badly and being killed. They're sending their prisoners to see us. They're sending and they're bringing them right to the border and they're dropping them off and we're allowing them to come in. And these are tougher than anybody we've got in the country. These are hardened criminals. And we've got hundreds of thousands of them."

Migrant crime

"These are the roughest people you've ever seen. You know, now we have a new form of crime. I call it Biden migrant crime, but it's too long. So let's just call it migrant crime. We have a new category. You know, you have vicious crimes. You have violent crimes. You have all these. Now we have migrant crimes, and they're rough. They're rough. And it's going to double up. And you see what's happening.

You know, throughout the world right now, I don't know if you know this. Crime is way, way down. You know why? Because they sent us their criminals. That's why. It's true. It's true. They sent, you know, Venezuela is down 66 percent because they sent us their gang members and their gangsters. They sent us their drug dealers and their murderers. They're all coming into our country. And Venezuela now, their crime is down 66 percent."

Bloodbath

"Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you're building in Mexico right now, and you think you're going to get that, you're going to not hire Americans, and you're going to sell the cars to us. No, we're going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars. If I get elected. Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole…that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That'll be the least of it."

MAGAnomics

"With your vote, we will throw out the Bidenomics and we will reinstate a thing called MAGAnomics.

Crooked Joe Biden and his socialist thugs are looting trillions and trillions of dollars from the American people and giving it to radical left lunatics and friends. But Biden's reign of plunder and terror stops the day I take the oath of office. The hardworking American taxpayer will once again have a friend and a fighter and a champion in the White House.

Biden's socialist spending…his socialist spending is really what's happening, is your Social Security is going to be gone. You know, they don't say it. They never say it. They will not you will not be able to have Social Security with this guy in office because he's destroying the economics of our country. And that includes Medicare, by the way. And American seniors are going to be in big trouble. I made a promise that I will always keep Social Security, Medicare. We always will keep it. We won't be cutting it.

We have liquid gold under the ground. We'll be drilling like a son of a gun, but we're leaving your Social Security around. They won't. And they can't make that pledge because their economic theory is no good because they're taking in millions and millions of people in this country and they're spending, you know."

I know you are, but what am I?

"We're the only ones, and they know this, that can stop them. We're the only ones. There's nobody else around. If this election isn't won, I'm not sure that you'll ever have another election in this country. Does that make sense? I don't think you're going to have another election in this country.

If we don't win this election, I don't think you're going to have another election or certainly not an election that's meaningful. And we better get out or we better…I actually say that the date…remember this: November 5th. I believe it's going to be the most important date in the history of our country. I believe that. This country is weaponizing law enforcement for high-level election interference against Biden's top political opponent."

Resurrecting Operation Wetback

"When I'm president of the United States, we will demand justice for Laken. On day one, my administration will terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration. We'll begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. Larger than that, by far, of Dwight Eisenhower."

Blood and honor

"One week ago, I met with a family of 22-year-old nursing student. Incredible person, Laken Riley, who was brutally murdered in Georgia last month while out on a morning run. She was so badly beaten up, unrecognizable. Can you believe it? Laken’s killer was set loose into the United States through Joe Biden's program of releasing military-age males into our communities after they've illegally crossed our southern border. And that's what happened. And this animal came in.

Laken Riley would be alive today if Biden had not unleashed a savage attack on America. And that's what he's done. But instead of apologizing to Laken’s family, Joe Biden apologized to the killer for calling him illegal. “I shouldn't have done that. Oh, oh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have called him illegal. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'd like to apologize to the killer.” He's more concerned with the killer. He couldn't even pronounce her name right."

Keeping the border in play

"I was saying the other day that, in 2016, one of the biggest issues was the border.

And I sort of won on the border, I guess, maybe. And we fixed the border. We fixed it so good that I couldn't even use it in 2020, even though we got millions and millions more votes in 2020. But we couldn't even talk about it. I'd say, “I want to talk about the border. Tell them what a good job.” They said, “Sir, you fixed it. Nobody cares.”

That border was a tiny fraction of what this border is. This is the worst border in the history of the world. There's never been anything... Millions and millions of people are pouring into our country. Probably 15 or 16 million people. That's almost larger than any state we have in the union. And they're coming in from places you don't want to know about."

The party of the working class

"With his open border policy, Joe Biden has repeatedly stabbed African-American voters in the back, including by granting millions and millions of work permits taking their jobs. The African-American community, the Hispanic community, are going to be the ones that suffer the most. And you know who else? Unions. Because unions are getting good, solid, high pay. And guess what's going to happen?

The unions are going to go out. The Teamsters are in trouble. I'm dealing with the Teamsters. They should endorse me. I don't know if they will or not. I know the Teamsters are going to vote for me. The Teamsters, the real… the Teamsters that do the work. The head Teamsters, Sean and everybody. They're good men.

They're good people. And I hope they're going to endorse Trump. I think it would be nice. It's been many decades before that's happened. But if you look at the United Auto Workers, what they've done to their people is horrible. They want to do this all-electric nonsense where the cars don't go far. They cost too much, and they're all made in…they're all made in China. And the head of the United Auto Workers never probably shook hands with a Republican before."

Insults

"Gavin Newscum. Does anyone ever…Gavin Newscum? S-C-U-M is his last. No, Gavin Newscum. This guy, he's always talking about, “Oh, California, it's great.” They're losing a fortune. People are moving out. I have property there. I love California. One of the most beautiful places. They're destroying it. They're destroying California.

My father's looking down and my mother was such a beautiful woman. And she's looking down with my father. And she's saying, “How the hell did our boy get four indictments?” And not only that, all these local cases like Fanny. Funny. It's spelled “fanny.” It's spelled “fanny” like your ass, right? Fanny.

And how about this guy? He may end up being a United States senator, right? Shifty Adam Schiff. Think of it. Can you believe it? He may end up being a senator. This is one of the most dishonest human beings.
MSDNC, MSNBC, a bunch of fakes.

And Nancy Pelosi, who’s a major sleaze, by the way, a major sleaze."

Birtherism at the root

"Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama. Has anyone ever heard of him? Barack Hussein Obama. Or as Rush Limbaugh would say, Barack Hussein Obama. He used to scream out the name Hussein. But he…he was…think of this. Just think of this. Every swing state, Biden beat Obama, but every other state he got killed. You think that's an honest election? I could give you 100 different things."

As always, Trump’s reading is…selective at best

"I only read polls when they're good, by the way."

Less than eight months now.

_________

 

Let Us Prey

U.S. "Christian Nationalists" are making plans for us.

   

The Project 2025 BC folks have some “competition.”

 

 Get a load of this crew.

Below,

the entirety of their website.

THE VISION
We foresee a nation building great projects of civic and cultural renaissance. A society with strong leadership committed to family and culture. A society that nurtures, rather than rejects, virtue. A society that seeks the good and the beautiful, and abjures ideology.

We are raising accountable leaders to help build thriving communities of free citizens, who will reclaim a humane vision of society while rebuilding the frontier-conquering spirit of America. A new thing for a new day, informed by the wisdom of the past but facing the future.

A brotherhood of faith and solidarity.

The past is sealed. The future is open. As the great men of the West bequeathed their deeds to us, so must we leave a legacy for our children. Through associations bound by a common vision, we strengthen the ties that bind us together as Americans and free men. The works raised by our hands to this end will last long after we are buried.

CIVILIZATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AS A SHARED GOAL
A man is no longer encouraged to fly to the stars, to tame the wilderness, to plant the seeds that his children will inherit. Rather, those who rule today spit on such ambitions; they corrupt the sinews of America. They have alienated men from family, community, and God. We counter and conquer this poison, rebuilding a society where a man can find genuine fulfilment, true to his nature and calling, rejoicing in virtue and vitality.

THE MARK
The mark and its seal evoke the goals of the Society and signify what binds the members of the Society.

CHRISTIANITY
The mark evokes two versions of the Cross used in early Christianity: Saint Peter’s Cross and the Anchor Cross. The former is a symbol of faithful humility; the latter of stability and hope—both within a Trinitarian framework, and rejecting Modernist philosophies and heresies.

AUTHORITY AND THE EXERCISE OF POWER
The mark is both sword and shield, the first the traditional symbol of temporal authority, the second a symbol of defense of the weak, the widow and the orphan, and of all those under sustained attack by the powers of the current age.

RENAISSANCE
The mark looks backward, but it also looks forward and upward. A new America, for a new age, informed by the wisdom of the old—the future Renaissance. The goal of the Society is renewal, returning to success, heedless of nostalgia. The mark shows a supported reaching for the sky, demanding of us that we excel in the works of Man, under the eyes of God.

A word on joining the effort.

Membership in the Society, which is organized primarily around local groups overseen by a national superstructure, is by invitation only.

That's it. No contact links, nothing else. Below, a couple of media sources have unearthred some rather jiggy internal documentation:

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN CIVIC RENEWAL

Mission Statement - Internal
Our aim is to build and maintain a robust network of capable men who can reverse our society's decline and return us to the successful path off which America has strayed.

We acknowledge our intellectual, political, and social inheritance, of both America's founding and of Christendom. We are un-hyphenated Americans and we believe in a particular Christianity that is not blurred by modernist philosophies. We ambitiously point to an ideal based on that dual inheritance. We are willing to act decisively to secure permanently, as much as anything is permanent, the political and social dominance of that ideal.

To that end, our organization seeks to recruit men of good character whose loyalties are grounded in strong virtue, correct religion, the moral life, and piety toward their forebears. Most of all, we seek those who understand the nature of authority and its legitimate forceful exercise in the temporal realm. Our conviction is that a brotherhood of these men will form the backbone of a renewed American regime that will reflect the past while facing, and vigorously shaping, the future.

Mission Statement - Public
America is in a state of crisis. Decadence and corruption abound, from the streets of West Hollywood to the board rooms of Wall Street, and in many unnamed and unknown places in between. "Citizenship" has little meaning in the morass of social dysfunction and unaccountability that has become our republic. ''Virtue" has become a term of derision rather than an achievable ideal.

Our aim is to provide the framework, and the resources, for a way forward for ordinary citizens to reclaim a humane vision of society. Community, virtue, wisdom, strength, and solidarity are our watchwords. We seek a vigorous civic renewal that will reflect the past while facing the future.

Objectives
1: Identify and provide formation for local elites who are today largely outside formal power structures but who are capable of exercising authority and who are aligned with our goal of complete civic renewal. We believe in intellectual and spiritual development, but our formation is aimed at concrete temporal achievements, not furthering intellectual discussion.

2: Actively assist local elites to build-out and maintain fraternal networks which will advance both the members of those networks and our collective goals, in all areas of life. Such advancement will include direct preferential treatment for members, especially in business.

3: Coordinate allied fraternal networks, in business and other organizational areas, to achieve our goals in activities to which a political awareness can be brought, but has not traditionally been brought by those wishing to defend our values. These include hiring and promotion; award of contracts; internal policies and procedures; and leadership succession.

4: Defend fraternal networks, our own and allies, against attacks by those opposed to civic renewal, and strongly deter such attacks.

5: Collect, curate and document a list of potential appointees and hires for an aligned future regime. These may be the same men described in Objective 1, but need not be necessarily. More likely, they would be next generation-not founding participants, but those who joined as the project of civic renewal grows deep roots. That is, men who "grow up in the system."
________________

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN CIVIC RENEWAL

WORKING MEMBERSHIP AND RECRUITING GUIDE FOR CHAPTER LEADERSHIP

I.MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA

Membership in SACR is predicated on political alignment and faithfulness to the Christian religion, combined with virtue and with any of community influence, capability, or wealth. Once a prospective member passes the minimal bar of alignment and Trinitarian identity, he should demonstrably embody the virtuous practice of our faith and possess the qualities that will ensure his ability to contribute meaningfully to our project. Each quality is explained further below; they are in no particular order, and should not be considered exhaustive.

Alignment: To be aligned is to acknowledge "our political and social inheritance, of both America's founding and of Christendom," which entails deference to and acceptance of the wisdom of our American and European Christian forebears in the political realm, a traditional understanding of patriarchal leadership in the household, and an acceptance of traditional Natural Law in ethics more broadly.

Virtue: Evidence of long-lasting relationships; restraint and self-denial; household management; leadership and orderliness; and courage in speaking against the injustices of our age.

Faithfulness: Submission to the authority and standards of behavior of a particular Trinitarian Christian body; adherence to traditional Christian sexual ethics; taking ownership as head of the household in terms of leading regular prayer and spiritual reading and reflection; involvement in parish/church ministries; regular tithing.

One or more of:

Influence: To be influential in this context is to possess the ability to make a mark primarily on culture and social discourse but also in politics and business. The positions here can range from equity ownership in productive enterprises to positions of influence in cultural, religious and intellectual institutions.

Capability: This entails high capability in skills useful for our organization and the businesses it will be affiliated with (e.g., any skill conducive to the technical work of productive entrepreneurship; lawfare; cybersecurity).

Wealth: This is measured in terms of overall financial attainment as well as ultimately, willingness to put such resources to use in our cause.

Levels of membership:

We conceive of Chapter membership as consisting of multiple levels: "Junior" membership and regular membership, which will be furrher split into "associate" and "full" membership, roughly corresponding to level of professional and personal experience and abilities as well as demonstrated level of commitment 1-0 our objectives.

Junior Membership: Junior Members will be younger (20s to early 30s) men who demonstrate the qualities above, but in nascent form. Dues will be at a reduced rate, and they will not be included, generally in national discussions.

Regular Membership: Regular Members will be men of all ages who demonstrate the qualities above in a matured and accomplished form. Dues will be slightly higher, and they will be included at varying levels in national discussions and have access to information at the national and inter-chapter level. A further distinction should be made between "associate" and "full" Members.

Associate Membership: The primary distinction between Junior Members and Regular Associate Members will be age (though this is not determinative, and some Associate Members may be younger), experience and accomplishments.

Full Membership: Full Membership is reserved for those with significant skin in the game with respect to our mission and objectives and demo111strated commitment over time.

National leadership is reserved for those members the national Board deem appropriate to include in national planning, strategy and operations. In most cases these will be Full Members.

All members are obligated to pay dues timely, attend at least twelve gatherings per year, and to adhere to the Rules for Gatherings noted below.

II. MEMBERSHIP VETTING

The process of vetting begins with the passive knowledge of or pre-existing relationships with prospects among members.

The above membership criteria should be distributed among Chapter members so they can internalize it and be on the lookout for prospects.
Once identified, a prospect should be discussed with Chapter leadership with the following knowledge:

• Denominational affiliation
• Profession
• Marital status
• Brief description of fitness for membership based on above criteria

If Chapter leadership deems the prospect worthy of consideration, the prospect should be invited to a Chapter event, where the Rules for Gatherings for all attendees are explained and agreed to in advance.

At the gathering, the following are some suggested prompts for discussion with the prospect to gauge alignment and fit:

• What are your thoughts on the Republican Party?
• What are your thoughts on "Christian Nationalism"?
• Comment on the Trump presidency and what it entails for the future.
• Describe the dynamic of your household in terms of your role and that of your wife.

____________________

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN CIVIC RENEWAL

PRAYERS FOR CHAPTER EVENTS

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we call upon the help of God to establish, empower, and guide us in our mission of civic renewal. May God unite us in this mission as Joshua’s men when they defeated the mighty walls of Jericho as Nehemiah’s men who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, as Saint Constantine's men when they conquered in the sign of the Cross. May the light of Christendom be restored in our homeland and may America not fall to those who hate God. May God establish our civil authorities as his ministers of justice and may we and our sons never partake from the table-scraps of the enemies of God but rely forever on God's generous providence. Through our loyal cooperation and perseverance under God, may he develop in us all necessary shrewdness and strength, and may our sons live to see the commonplace grateful reception in our homeland of God's gifts: of human nature, sanctified marriage and children and grandchildren, and the renewal of all good and proper earthly labors, especially those of the patriarch and statesman. May God show his mercy upon America and bless us as we entrust our lives and mission to God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Short Prayer - Regular Meetings

As we gather this evening/ we call upon the help of God to establish, empower, and guide us in our mission of civic renewal. Through our loyal cooperation and perseverance under God, may he develop in us all necessary shrewdness and strength, and may our sons live to see the commonplace grateful reception in our homeland of the natural law, Christian truth, and all good and proper earthly labors, especially those of the patriarch and statesman. May God show his mercy upon America and bless us as we entrust our lives and mission to God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen.

YEAH. AND, IT GETS EVEN BETTER

Shocking Online Manifesto Reveals Project 2025’S Link To A Coordinated ‘Christian Nationalism Project’
“The Statement on Christian Nationalism” seeks to implement a Scripture-based system of government whereby Christ-ordained “civil magistrates” exercise authority over the American public.

Draft Authors: James Silberman, Dusty Deevers.
Contributing Editors: William Wolfe, Joel Webbon, Jeff Wright, Cory Anderson.

DEFINITION
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM is a set of governing principles rooted in Scripture’s teaching that Christ rules as supreme Lord and King of all creation, who has ordained civil magistrates with delegated authority to be under Him, over the people, to order their ordained jurisdiction by punishing evil and promoting good for His own glory and the common good of the nation.

INTRODUCTION
Christian Nationalism is primarily concerned with the righteous rule of civil authorities, not spiritual matters pertaining to salvation. The desire for a Christian nation is not a distraction from the Gospel but rather an effort to faithfully apply all of Scripture to all of life, including the public square. As such, Christian Nationalism is not just for civil authorities, just as submitting to Christ’s Lordship is not just for civil authorities but for all people. After the Lord Jesus declared His sovereign authority (Matthew 28:18), He gave the Great Commission and commanded His followers, empowered by His everlasting presence, to make disciples of “all nations”  and to baptize them and “teach them to obey all that I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20). Our Lord did not exclude all civil authorities from the command to submit to His authority and display allegiance to Him…
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Article I: The Source of Truth
WE AFFIRM that the Bible is God’s Word, breathed out by Him as the only sufficient, certain, inerrant, infallible, necessary, and final authority for all saving knowledge, faith (what we must believe), and obedience (how we must live). We affirm that the light of nature in man and God’s works in creation and providence reveal God’s power and nature, leaving civil authorities without excuse for failing to govern justly as His servants, yet this knowledge is insufficient for repentance unto life in salvation. All truth claims and ethical standards must be tested by God’s final Word, which is Scripture alone. We affirm that the Bible is clear in all essential matters.

WE DENY that true beliefs, good character, or good conduct can be dictated by any authority other than God’s revelation.

Article II: Orthodox Christian Faith
WE AFFIRM that nations are commanded to honor God by officially affirming the orthodox Christian faith as historically and universally defined and affirmed in the creeds (e.g., Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed). We affirm that many denominational confessions articulate the orthodox Christian faith. We affirm that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.

Article III: The Standard of Justice
WE AFFIRM that God’s Word is authoritative on everything to which it speaks, and we affirm that God’s Word speaks abundantly regarding the nature and importance of civil government and justice. We affirm that God's moral law is enduring and binding on all people throughout all time, including civil authorities and nations, and that it is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments. We further affirm that every political thought must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. We affirm that Christ will judge every civil authority according to their conformity to His command.

WE DENY that there is any objective standard by which to discern justice from injustice outside of God’s revelation, written on the heart and most perfectly revealed in Scripture. We deny that faithful civil authorities may rule autonomously from the rule of Christ. We deny that God approves of Christians embracing any political ideology or position prohibited by Scripture.

Article IV: The Definition of a Nation
WE AFFIRM that a nation is not merely an idea, abstract principle, or ideology but tangibly defined by a particular body of people in a particular place. We affirm that a particular people are necessarily bound together by a shared culture, customs, history, and lineage while sharing common interests, virtues, languages, and worship. We affirm, in regards to “place” that a nation is definitively set by both its borders and times physically defined by God (Acts 17:26). Thus, we affirm that nations should rightly maintain autonomous government of their people and place, with the necessary rights and duties to (1) prioritize the security of its people by maintaining its borders, providing for its common defense, and repelling invasions from without and insurrections from within; (2) promote the prosperity of its citizens; and, (3) enforce justice.

WE DENY that a nation should cede its sovereignty to international bodies that may subvert the will of the national interest for a global order. We deny any efforts to establish a “one world” governmental system before the return of Christ, as such efforts are a reenactment of the Tower of Babel. We further deny that sovereign nations must only be composed of mono-ethnic populations to be united under God. Therefore, as Christian Nationalists, we utterly repudiate sinful ethnic partiality in all its various forms.

Article V: The Nature of Christ’s Lordship and Kingdom
WE AFFIRM that in addition to possessing the titles of Savior, Messiah, and many others, Jesus, the Son of God, Who is truly God, is also the King of all earthly kings, the Lord of all earthly lords, and the Lawmaker for all earthly lawmakers. He is the possessor of all authority in heaven and on earth. We affirm that as God, Jesus Christ is preeminent over all creation, sovereignly rules over all things visible and invisible in heaven, earth, and hell, and ordains all things according to the counsel of His perfect will for the good of those in Him. We affirm that in His mediatorial rule, Christ rules by His Spirit and Word through the saints in their earthly authority. We also affirm that as sovereign King of kings, Christ has commanded all civil authorities, Christian and non-Christian alike, to execute His will on the earth to orient humankind toward Himself through the moral law. We affirm that Christ alone, through the blood of His cross, grants repentance and forgiveness of sins to reconcile sinners to His Father.
 
WE DENY any theology which would seek to segregate sacred aspects of life, where God’s Word is authoritative, and supposedly secular aspects of life, where the Christian must operate by a standard other than God’s Word. We deny any theology which claims that bringing God’s Word into the civil sphere is unwise, unfruitful, sinful, or anything other than fitting and required. We deny that Jesus’ kingship and lordship are merely heavenly or that His Word is only authoritative over confessing Christians. We deny that, solely by virtue of their claims to authority or the claims of those who support them, any human or group of humans who claim to be civil authorities are, in actuality, recognized by God to be civil authorities...

OK, you get the idea. Upon reconsideration, I took out the rest. A waste of bandwidth. They ramble on through more than s dozen more "Articles" asserting patriarchal Christian biblical authority over every detail of American life.

Props to Jennifer Cohn, Bucks County Beacon.

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STILL TO COME...

Pretty much the same schtick, perhaps a tad less snarlingly aggressive.

Among other things, these folks want to outlaw IVF.

To IVF critics … an embryo is just a very young person. “The only real difference between those frozen embryos and me sitting here having this conversation with you is time,” Katy Faust, the president of the anti-abortion nonprofit Them Before Us, told me. “If you believe that children have a right to life, and that life begins at conception, then ‘Big Fertility’ as an industry is responsible for more child deaths than the abortion industry.” Faust’s organization argues from a “children’s rights” perspective, meaning it also believes that IVF is wrong, in part, because it allows single women and homosexual couples to have babies, which deprives children of having both a mother and a father.

This leads to the other major criticism of IVF: that the process itself is so unnatural that it devalues sex and treats children as a commodity. The argument to which many religious Americans subscribe is that having children is a “cooperative act among husband, wife, and God himself,” John M. Haas, a former president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, has written. “Children, in the final analysis, should be begotten not made.”…

Full article here.

LET US PREY

 

Yeah, right. Mr. Piety.

 

Random note: I'm a "small-a" atheist, which simply means "without theology," nothing more. A fully-recovered Episcopalian, subsequently a dilettante UU, and a stable, long-time secular Zen Sympathizer. I find anthropomorphic / speciocentric wishful-thinking stuff of nil interest. There's too much of exigent importance to reflect and act upon.

UPDATE

   

Christian Nationalism is Both Smear and Savior to Many Christians
By Paul A. Djupe, Denison University

All it took was some imprecise language from a Politico reporter to fire up the outrage machine. If it means that the rights and liberties of the Constitution were granted by God, then “Christian nationalism” is a smear applied to the broadest swath of the population that simply associates democracy with godliness…

It seems clear that many Christian nationalists do not like being labeled as such even as they see Christian nationalism as a substantive idea that they agree with for restoring Christians to societal dominance. The elite ploy, of course, has been to try and delegitimize opponents who are accurately labeling them. And they use accusations that opponents are trying to take away their rights by calling them Christian nationalists to feed the Christian persecution complex that has been so successful at mobilizing supporters. The fact that those feigning outrage are actually supporters is unlikely to stop them.

Fine piece. Read all of it

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In fewer than eight months,

the arc of history may well take a sharp, adverse turn away from any rational notion of civilized justice.

A painfully hilarious read. Andrew Marantz is an Old Soul of a writer at the age of 39. I’m having an interesting reaction. I have not been feeling well lately (Parkinson’s getting worse). Curiously, this book is making me feel better physically. OK, back to reading. More to come. Stay tuned.

I finally finished this book. Kindle Reader pegs it at 15 hours, 2 minutes. Lotta book here, lotta fine writing. This is the first post in which I've cited all my my excerpts using the Kindle Reader #Kindlequotes functionality. I would click-drag-highlight sections as I was going through the book and save them iteratively as jpegs.

 

This book is a 2019 release. Things don't appear to be getting materially better in the aggregate with respect to ill-will / bad faith polarizing mis/disinformation. See some of my priors posts citing "disinformation."

I came to the author via one of his recent New Yorker articles.

...A camp of techno-optimists rebuffs A.I. doomerism with old-fashioned libertarian boomerism, insisting that all the hand-wringing about existential risk is a kind of mass hysteria. They call themselves “effective accelerationists,” or e/accs (pronounced “e-acks”), and they believe A.I. will usher in a utopian future—interstellar travel, the end of disease—as long as the worriers get out of the way. On social media, they troll doomsayers as “decels,” “psyops,” “basically terrorists,” or, worst of all, “regulation-loving bureaucrats.” “We must steal the fire of intelligence from the gods [and] use it to propel humanity towards the stars,” a leading e/acc recently tweeted. (And then there are the normies, based anywhere other than the Bay Area or the Internet, who have mostly tuned out the debate, attributing it to sci-fi fume-huffing or corporate hot air.)...

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