More Thoughts on Libra

US lawmakers tell Facebook to halt the launch of its Libra cryptocurrency

This request was made by the House Financial Services Committee, led by Democrat Maxine Waters,.who is no doubt beholden financially to American banks, who do not want to be put out of business. 

They want to keep things the way they are, But Facebook and its many allies want things to move on. 

The smart thing to do is establish a new branch of the Federal government (like the FDA) that would regulate this new kind of money. 

Which is going to happen, one way or the other.

The Parents are Normal, Their Children are Failures

They can't be entirely normal if their children are failures, so it might be more useful to say the children are the result of hidden deficiencies in the parents. That on closer inspection, are not so hidden.

Parenting is a difficult business, and that is why I have no children. But most people feel they must have children, and they have them, even if that involves a terrific struggle. Once they have them, they feel they are superior people and are entitled to a large share of the world's goods.

And in the last half of the 20th Century in America, this is what happened. They had a baby boom and a corresponding boom in housing and cars.

Now, this is over, they are desperate and will follow anyone who promises to bring the Good Times back.

A world good for Things, but Not Good for People

Things have crowded us off the stage.

I made coffee first thing this morning, as usual. I took the time to look at the plastic bag it came in, and marvel ar its construction. A real work of art, that was used and then thrown in the garbage, just to make me feel better temporarily!

This benefited the coffee industry and the hundreds of people who made it.

Although it could also be said, more realistically, that this was just a tiny part of our economy's insane obsession to make more and more of everything. And to move the entire world into the garbage dump.

Sentiment Analysis

Some strange things end up in my inbox and this one of them, courtesy of O'Reilly, the Computer Publisher.

A young man behind a Laptop is speaking in a video in a frame on the right, while a summary of what he is saying is shown in the wide center column. A scrolling outline is shown in the left column,.An innovative format that takes some getting used to.

If you like learning (and most people do not) this is will help you understand Computers and their Software. That is now running the world.

Everything Depends on what we Think of Each Other

What are we, really?

We live in a world created by Science. that is everywhere under attack.

Science assumes the world can be understood. And the people in that world can be understood also. And has done a good job of that, much to people's consternation. They are saying "We are not that way!: When they clearly are.

What way are they upset about? The dominance of Greed in their culture.

They will readily acknowledge the importance of this, but also say "We are not really this way!" And expect us to understand what that means.

They are saying they are composed of two parts: the natural and the supernatural. And the supernatural is what they should be judged by. And if we have a hard time seeing this, they will be glad to help us out.

We are talking about a defense of Capitalism. Which certainly needs defending. It has given us huge benefits, but also huge problems. And these need straitening out.

You will probably agree, but be extremely nervous about doing this. Everything is working so well, you hate to touch it, for fear of total collapse.

We now have two dominant emotions: Greed and Fear. Which will a subject for a future posting!

American English

This is now the Language used everywhere, especially on the Web.

I have heard young Ticos with their iPhones in hand, correcting each other's pronunciation. They know when to speak Spanish, and when to speak English.

American popular culture is its most valuable export, and one finds it everywhere.

If you want to put down a Mexican-American (and there ate plenty of those in America) all you have to say is that he (or she) is acting like a lower-class Mexican.

Upper-class Mexicans fit in easily (are bilingual) and are more advanced, in some ways than Americans are.

Mormonism and Jacksonian Democracy

A gentleman should not seek public Office

This subject has been written about before, by scholars of American history and Religion.

Mormonism was an American religion, although most of its early converts came from the English Industrial Heartland. They read The Book of Mormon and concluded that the author was a Prophet of God - a role new to hin, but one he quickly adopted himself. 

This article in DelancyPlace summarizes the election of 1824 nicely. And the huge decline in public morals that accompanied it. It describes the social forces behind the success of Mormonism and the rise of Joseph Smith, a scoundrel if ever was one, like Andrew Jackson.

I can also see a parallel to the election of Trump, in our time.