With politics lately seeming so bad, not just in the U.S. but in much of the world, I thought the above might be of interest. Via Klaster Chaosmos on Bluesky (worth a follow if you are a RAW fan there!). Klaster responded when I replied "I hope he's right," saying "Whether right or wrong, to me it serves as a stark reminder of the backwards and mostly reactionary nature of government and politics in general .. with Bob's trademark cosmic wink of an incorrigible optimist, of course ... as for relevancy: context matters."
Klaster also shared the source with me after a bit of research and said the source is The Prism Lecture, 1982. "At some point, Bob discusses economics & politics from an angle of primate psychology & territorial behaviour. The quote comes on after he quotes Timothy Leary:
"The only intelligent way
to discuss politics
is on all fours."
Lots of relevant stuff throughout."
Possibly related: In a recent Substack newsletter, Scott Sumner reviews Richard Hanania's new book Kakistocracy: Why Populism Ends in Disaster and then suggests:
"So how depressed should we be by the rise of anti-elite populism? Consider these three claims:
1. Politics is getting worse.
2. Voters are becoming less well informed.
3. The world is getting better.
Are all three claims true? I believe the answer is yes. There’s more to life than politics." (More at the link.)
Also possibly related: A Fareed Zakaria piece in the Washington Post, "A revolution is unfolding. Voters everywhere are furious." He suggests this is what's going on: "The larger explanation is that we are living through one of history’s great technological revolutions. And these transformations always produce deep anxiety and fear."
He adds, "The last technological transformation on this scale came between roughly 1880 and 1920. Electricity, the telephone, railroads, the automobile and movies overturned entire industries and ways of life. Millions left farms for cities. Global trade disrupted local economies. New fortunes appeared overnight, while old occupations disappeared. In this turmoil, frustration and anger found political pathways. The left turned to communism, the right to fascism. What followed were new mass movements, cultural upheavals and world war." (The claim that technological changes helped give rise to the right wing populism of Trump, Bolsonaro, etc. also is a key claim of Hanania's book.)
I found the piece via Tyler Cowen, who writes, "You can be a victim of these processes, or keep your wits about you. The choice is yours."
