Top 5: Thinking deeper about digital tech
Plus, a first-hand account of a Uighur woman's imprisonment.
Top 5 articles for your week:
“The Insurrection Will Be Live Streamed: Notes Toward a Theory of Digitization” (Substack - The Convivial Society)
This essay - which is very long - on trying to parse through the digitization of life via the lens of the the Capitol siege on January 6th is wildly good. It’s quite wonky and academic, but well-written and worth your time. Number 8 particularly resonated with me (Melissa), but another section might give you an “a-ha!” moment.
“Biden Should…” (Washington Post Magazine)
Because this collection of 14 policy proposals for the Biden-Harris administration from experts and thinkers is a stimulating read. Those who subscribe to this newsletter might find Jonathan Rauch’s proposal, “Seek a Compromise on Religious Liberty and Gay Rights” of particular interest.
“The Art of the Lie? The Bigger the Better” (NYT)
Because lying in politics to win, govern, convince voters, or maintain power is not new, and this essay details a handful of countries around the world who currently have politicians and regimes that use lies to uphold their power — it’s not just the US.
“'Our souls are dead': how I survived a Chinese 're-education' camp for Uighurs” (The Guardian)
Because this essay (an excerpt from a new book) is a harrowing account about how one Uighur woman, who had been living in France for 10 years, was lured back to China and imprisoned for 2 years. It is an inside look at the Chinese government’s ongoing targeting, persecution, and degradation of Uighur Muslims.
“What Will Trump’s Presidency Mean to History?” (Politico Magazine)
Because historian David Greenberg cautiously takes us through a theory of how President Trump may be viewed historically, and the most important impacts Trump had on the US over 4 years.
“But having studied the presidency, past and present, for most of my adult life, I can’t help thinking that that chaos—or, more precisely, the deliberate breakdown of rules—is what Trump’s presidency was all about.
That might sound like a stylistic critique. After all, Trump’s presidency was also marked by a crude ultra-populist politics, as seen in such features as his atavistic “America First” foreign policy, his determination to halt illegal immigration, including through morally and legally dubious methods, and the surge in overt expressions of racism, like the 2017 Charlottesville rally. But those Trumpian developments are actually connected to the president’s assault on America’s rules and norms.”
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