Accidental Blogger

End of the line

Dear Readers and Co-bloggers,

This is the farewell post I had contemplated writing several times in the past year but did not get around to doing. After noting the gradual decrease in readership and much slower rates of posting - mine and of others - I feel that the time has come to put an end to new writing on Accidental Blogger.

Blogging over the past many years has been a most enjoyable activity, both from the angle of creativity and social interactions that were interesting, thoughtful and fun.  We made many friends and hopefully, no enemies. I discovered much about others, the world and my own self that I did not know before. The format provided a perfect spot for the give and take of ideas and opinions with friends as well as strangers, many of whom subsequently became friends.

Accidental Blogger made its solo debut in October 2005 as a vehicle for recording my musings, mainly political commentary. On the way, it gathered a few more passengers.  Joe, Anna, Sujatha and Dean were among the early authors who joined A.B. to add their voices to mine. Andrew showed up soon after. Narayan and Prasad came on board midway during the blog's life. Norman, Jesse, Cyrus, Omar and John Ballard are among the more recent additions to the roster of authors. I am extremely grateful to my co-bloggers for their contributions and have enjoyed getting to know them. I also wish to acknowledge my sister-in-law Sukrita Paul Kumar and my good friends Elatia Harris and Nancy Hudson for writing an occasional piece here, thus making them honorary A.B. bloggers. Among the people mentioned, I have had the pleasure of meeting Sujatha, Anna, Elatia and Cyrus in real life. Perhaps in the future I will  bump into the rest also somewhere outside the virtual salon, on terra firma, and have a real cup of tea (or beer) with them.

Accidental Blogger owes its minor success in the blogosphere to a very large extent to the kindness of other bloggers who were already there and gave us a helping hand in the form of links and by featuring the site on their blogroll. Editors of vastly more popular blogs (Brian Leiter, Abbas Raza, Amardeep Singh, Bora Zivkovic, Razib Khan, Abhi Tripathi among others) introduced A.B. to their readers via links  to our articles and by adding it to the list of recommended blogs. Without those early assists, it is unlikely that I could have succeeded in spreading the word about A.B. on my own. Due mainly to the links from these widely read blogs, we were also occasionally pleasantly surprised to see our posts referred to on bigger, more mainstream sites such as Slate, Salon and Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish which, for a few thrilling days brought in far more traffic than we were accustomed to.

Speaking of reading and writing on blogs, it has become increasingly clear to me in the last couple of years that many smaller, general interest blogs like A.B. are fading in popularity. (Professional and academic blogs probably haven't been affected) Writers, as well as readers are gradually gravitating towards other forms of social media. The brief and somewhat more casual mode of interactions at sites like Facebook and Twitter seems to have the attraction of instant communication that blogs don't generally afford. On the other hand, it is a bit ironic that mainstream publications, which initially expressed disdain for the proliferation of blogs started by amateur writers and non-journalists, now all have their own blogs. In any case, I don't know enough about the contents of the internet to comment authoritatively on the fate of individual blogs. But I do know that with a few exceptions, I don't have the same enthusiasm I once felt for writing or for reading many of the blogs that I used to visit regularly in the past. Most of the other A.B. writers (not you, John!) too have been absent for long periods, some longer than others. Some time ago, I had consulted with them about the prospect of keeping A.B. going. I got a mixed response. While some did not wish to see the blog die, others left it to me to make the decision of continuing or shutting it down. It has been a few months since then and I haven't seen much change in the health of the blog. Writing is infrequent and the readership has fallen precipitously in the last year or so. I am now convinced that rather than let A.B. languish, it is time to bring about a graceful end to its tenure. I will not delete the blog - there are many years' worth of interesting interactions recorded here. It will remain as an inactive archival site for the foreseeable future. 

Many thanks to all the readers who visited here over the years and encouraged us, sometimes privately, to write, think, inform and debate. Without their participation all of this would have been a lonely enterprise. After all, like many other public activities blogging too is a performative exercise. I hope to stay in touch with my co-bloggers via e-mail and Facebook. Those readers who have occasionally contacted me, please feel free to do so in the future if you wish. My contact information is available here.

The launch of Accidental Blogger was indeed accidental - an impulsive move that turned out to be a wonderful experience. The decision to end it however, is a deliberate and considered step. Among other things, blogging began for me as an exciting journey to a mostly unknown place. I had a vague idea of what I hoped to achieve but none whatsoever of what lay en route. The time, the place and the emerging technology of web based communications offered a ticket to ride and I set out with much anticipation and very little preparation. I always enjoyed writing and sharing my thoughts with anyone who would care to listen. Blogging was the perfect vehicle to pursue that interest. Now, after 7+ years, the trip is near the inevitable end. Again, the changes in time, place and technology, as also the diminished energy for the process of putting one's thoughts in order for a meaningful exchange with others, have played a role in the decision to apply the brakes, get off and move on.

Thanks again and best wishes for the upcoming Holiday Season.

Ruchira

P.S. I am attaching a portrait of my much younger self, painted years ago that shows me sitting with a cup of tea - alone. It is perhaps apt to post it here because the Table Talk (beverages implied) referred to in the title of the blog is now about to cease. Thanks everyone for a wonderful party!

 

4th Annual 3 QD Prize in Science

I forgot to post this earlier. The nomination process for the 4th annual 3 Quarks Daily competition for best science writing on blogs is under way. If you have read a blog post in this category that caught your attention, please consider nominating it. Details here.

Veterans Affairs Nurses [Strikeout Nurses] Management Scrutinized After Patient Deaths (Norman Costa)

Nurse - Anonymous

Veterans Affairs Nurses Management Scrutinized After Patient Deaths in Two States (Norman Costa)

A re-editing of an article by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein

ProPublica, April 30, 2012, 1:19 p.m. 

After a patient died last year at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Manhattan, federal inspectors discovered nurses in his unit [Management] had a startling gap in their skills [supervision and training of nursing staff]: They [Management] didn't understand [they were responsible for the competence and training of nursing staff as to] how the monitors tracking vital signs worked. 

Management - Gen. Eric Shinseki

None of the nurses [management] interviewed could accurately explain [their lapse in supervision and training of nursing staff, so that nurses could tell] what would happen if a patient became disconnected from a cardiac monitor — which allegedly occurred to the patient who died, according to an October 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general. 

The incident followed two deaths in the cardiac monitoring unit at a VA hospital in Denver that raised similar questions about nurse [Management] competency. 

Earlier this month, a broader review by the VA inspector general of 29 VA facilities found only half had adequately documented that their nurses had the needed skills. Some nurses "did not demonstrate competency in one or more required skills," but there was no evidence of [Management taking charge and providing the] retraining [for nursing staff], the report said. 

An outside nursing [management] expert who reviewed the reports at ProPublica's request called them "troubling" and said the fact that the [management] lapses weren't caught and corrected "signified much broader [management] problems." 

3rd Annual 3QD Arts & Literature Prize

Right as clockwork, another competition is under way at the great and friendly blog 3 Quarks Daily - this time for the best blog writings in art and literature to be judged by author Gish Jen. Please nominate a well written suitable piece published in the last 12 months. For details, follow the link above.

 

Draw a Stickman

Please excuse the lack of postings of late. Who knows when one of us will find the time to write something worth your attention. In the meantime, please amuse yourself with this little art project. A very happy New Year to everyone.

 

Winners of 3 Quarks Daily Politics & Social Science Prize, 2011

Here is the announcement of this year's winners of the 3 QD Politics & Social Science Prize. All three are excellent posts worth reading.

Accidental Blogger had the privilege of being among the nine finalists and that to me personally, is hugely encouraging. We can get distracted by the cacophony on the web, hopping around between headlines on news sites and the social media, thinking fleetingly about issues that catch our attention and are forgotten soon thereafter. Blogs have lost much of their early allure but they remain convenient venues for sharing our thoughts with others by means of cogent and thoughtful writing. Nothing focuses one's mind better than putting one's opinions and ideas together by means of well chosen words. I intend to utilize more of my time in the new year in gathering my thoughts and writing them down, just as I did in the early years of the blog. I probably will no longer be as prolific but "real" blogging on a smaller scale may still prove to be an enjoyable endeavor. I urge my co-bloggers to consider writing a few substantive posts of their own on any topic that interests them during the coming year, as and when time and inclination permit.

(NOTE: We are not the "winner" but the logo is irresistible to me because I have seen the original source of the picture)

3 Quarks Daily "Politics & Social Science" Prize Finalists

The A.B. entry in 3 QD's 2011 Politics & Social Science competition has been selected as one of the nine finalists. The three eventual winners will be judged by Professor Stephen M. Walt.  It is an honor and a delight (and considerable surprise as well) to have have been deemed competitive by the discerning editors of 3 Quarks Daily.

Readers who may have missed the post the first time around can read it here.

Not quite love at first sight

The reactions of several columnists from nearly ten years ago, when the MSM met the upstart Blog. Some were prescient, others dismissive. Note William Safire's grudging acceptance that the "minor" phenomenon would at least enter the lexicon.

In an upbeat Independence Day column in The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan, the incurable optimist, wrote about all ''the lights that didn't fail'' America -- from cops and firemen to peach-growing farmers and cancer-curing scientists, from local churches to TV comedians to blogging .

Blogging ? She explained the word as ''the 24/7 opinion sites that offer free speech at its straightest, truest, wildest, most uncensored, most thoughtful, most strange. Thousands of independent information entrepreneurs are informing, arguing, adding information.''

Blog is a shortening of Web log . It is a Web site belonging to some average but opinionated Joe or Josie who keeps what used to be called a ''commonplace book'' -- a collection of clippings, musings and other things like journal entries that strike one's fancy or titillate one's curiosity. What makes this online daybook different from the commonplace book is that this form of personal noodling or diary-writing is on the Internet, with links that take the reader around the world in pursuit of more about a topic.

To set one up (which I have not done because I don't want anyone to know what I think), you log on to a free service like blogger.com or xanga.com, fill out a form and let it create a Web site for you. Then you follow the instructions about how to post your thoughts, photos and clippings, making you an instant publisher. You then persuade or coerce your friends, family or colleagues to log on to you and write in their own loving or snide comments.

''Will the blogs kill old media?'' asked Newsweek, an old-media publication, perhaps a little worried about this disintermediation leading to an invasion of alien ad-snatchers. My answer is no; gossips like an old-fashioned party line, but most information seekers and opinion junkies will go for reliable old media in zingy new digital clothes. Be that as it may (a phrase to avoid the voguism that said ), the noun blog is a useful addition to the lexicon.

Ugly Renaissance Babies

Believe it or not there is a blog devoted entirely to this unusual subject. The comments accompanying the images may be on the juvenile side but the paintings are real.

More than a decade ago, my sister and I suffered from paroxysms of hysterical laughter in front of a Biblical painting containing an incongruously mature looking Baby Jesus in Mary's lap. The infant reminded us of an adult of our acquaintance. Our faces red and tears running down our cheeks by the efforts to suppress the hilarity we attracted the attention of a museum guard nearby who looked askance at our unseemly behavior. We evaded eviction by quickly moving on to another gallery.

There may be a cultural / religious explanation for why indeed some of the babies in Madonna paintings were  so homely. I do not know and neither does the blogger as is clear from the following comment on page 3.

chicagonorth asked: it's inaccurate to call this "ugly Renaissance babies," because most of the images are from Byzantine/Medieval/Proto-Renaissance periods...

This is very true! Though, in our defense, a blog called “Ugly Byzantine/Medieval/Proto-Renaissance Babies” doesn’t really have the same ring to it.

Regardless of the specifics, I think we can all agree that ugly babies are both timeless and hilarious.

Perhaps someone with knowledge of this artistic phenomenon will leave an explanation in the comments section. (link via Anna Levine)

 

3rd Annual 3QD Politics & Social Science Prize

3 Quarks Daily has announced this year's annual Politics & Social Science Prize for best blog posts in this category. Steven M. Walt will judge the competition. If you have read something that is worthy of consideration, please nominate it. The details of the competition here. (Please remember that submissions have to be original blog posts and must have been written on or after November 20, 2010)

Backspiration (Cyrus)

It has been a slow last few months, the way time always seems to be when it's full of variety rather than intense drive.  Sadly, my back has been full of intense pain, from general soreness during the day, to spasms when I try to get out of bed in the morning.  As a welcoming present upon my return to the U.S., I was denied health insurance, so I've largely been dealing with it myself.

Yoga, walks, and mornings that drift toward full movement around noon.  The last week has been better, largely thanks to these remedial cures, such that (until this morning) I had already started to think of the previous months as the "era of the bad-back," past tense.  Joy!

However, the bad posterior has been cause for much creative thought, or, more accurately, the annoying antagonist that reminded me to do things not only good for my back, but also my mind.  In particular, daily walks. Walking without immediate purpose almost always puts me in a contemplative mood, and the natural open space of Boulder does much to incite the inner voice.  Allora, backspiration, one of which I want to share.

I've always enjoyed soaking up the ambiance of a scene.  Or, maybe, it's the other way: I take in the ambiance when I'm relaxed.  The brain opens up and starts to notice things normally edited out in the name of concision.  As a aurally focused person, sound particularly brightens up. Birds, conversation, a distant flute.  Volume itself becomes fascinating, as people walk by, children scream joyfully, and the wind acts as DJ, mixing it all together.  Last week, one gust brought a sudden onset of bagpipes.

But I can only walk so far, only go to so many places.  You may have experienced similar problems with time and space.  How about recording it? Put it online, let others listen to it, and accept their donated wanderings in return?

Alone, this isn't a particularly interesting idea, but the advent of large, semi-public geoinformation databases opens up a range of fascinating possibilities.  The presence of GPS on most modern phones makes it easy for anyone to make a highly accurate track of their movements.  Put these together with the recorded audio, and you have a website that explores the interface between place, context, time, and sound.

Imagine two windows on the screen, one a time-line/audio player, the other a Google map widget.  As one plays the audio, a little figure on the map moves synchronously, following the GPS track.  Somewhere, the time is presented.  Hear something interesting?  Calm?  Calamity?  Cacophony?  Click the map, and the location will be looked up in the numerous public image databases, the resulting images revealing the context of the place.

I suppose this is somewhat related to Google's Street View, but two things things set it apart.  First, of course, the audio is the heart of the project.  A particular snapshot of time, I would hope that people would walk the same or similar routes multiple times, sampling them for their variance.  Second, each recording would be a path set upon not becuase streets happen to be there, but because a person, an individual chose to go there.  That agency adds something unique to every recording.  Does the person choose to speak, saying hi to strangers?  Do they spit?  Cough?

I'm almost convinced to build the thing in my spare time.  If only it didn't hurt to sit for extended periods of time.  Backspiration failing.

Six years and sickly - Happy Birthday A.B. :-)

I guess that is not a very nice thing to say in a birthday greeting, at least not if you still want people to remain interested in your enterprise. Every year on October 19^th, the anniversary musings come with sweet as well as bitter sweet reckonings about the health of the blog. It is increasingly evident that we are now in a completely different state of blogging regarding enthusiasm, frequency and readership volume from the heydays of just a couple of years ago.  

There is nothing terribly interesting to say this year about traffic, new authors or sensational links that created a lot of interest. The past twelve months have seen a real dip in new writings and naturally, in traffic. Of the dozen authors listed on our roster less than 50% have contributed on a regular basis in the past year. Often short links (something I don’t like very much) have filled up the space on the front page in lieu of substantive commentary. We have pivoted away from political blogging for the most part, current political events specifically, have not received much attention.

Time, as Sujatha pointed out in her anniversary post last year is a major obstacle to blogging for most authors. But that is not the only reason. As I once speculated and Sujatha pointed out, crowded and more interactive social media too have played a role in the reduction of readership and postings. 

My thanks to Sujatha, Norm and Omar for blogging here with some regularity on varied topics and to Dean for keeping the comment threads lively. I also appreciate the contributions of other authors (Dean, Prasad, Jesse and Cyrus) who have posted when time has permitted. Joe, Anna and Andrew have not been seen here for a long time. The former became busy with his new job and the latter two with their new baby. My own rate of blogging has fallen precipitously. I noted in a comment on Sujatha’s anniversary post last year that a lack of enthusiasm for the political scene is one of the many reasons why my blogging spirits have flagged considerably. Some of us think that is not necessarily a bad thing. Now with a messy election season coming up, our attention may once again turn to politics. Who knows, the urge to hold forth publicly on issues that matter to us may pick up once again.

Many thanks also to some regular readers who continue to drop by despite the paucity of new material and reduced frequency of posting. Some, like my friend Elatia, are invariably supportive and add to the discussion with their interesting and thoughtful observations. Despite the anemic condition, Accidental Blogger remains a comfortable zone for some of us to share our thoughts and talk to each other. Do continue to check us out.

Several times in the past whenever I felt (sometimes mistakenly) that the blog was in the doldrums, I used to weigh the option of closing down Accidental Blogger. Joe always said that he didn’t believe I would ever do that. He was right. I do not want to lose a huge and interesting archive of material contributed by many different authors and commenters who put in a lot of thought and effort in adding to the discussions.  The contents of the blog will be maintained as they are whether or not blogging ceases altogether here. I have decided that TypePad is as good a venue as any other on the web to maintain the blog in its original format. A.B. therefore will remain available to its authors and readers for the foreseeable future.

To add some color to the bland musings, let me share a painting of mine with you. The composition is a bit stark and bare. Perhaps the solitary musician is not entirely unsuited for the mood of this post. We are not quite whistling past the graveyard but sometimes it feels a lot like singing in the wilderness.

 (click to enlarge)

3 Quarks Daily Annual Philosophy Prize

Details here. Philosopher Patricia Smith Churchland will judge the competition. Please nominate a deserving blog post in philosophy that you have come across in the last 12 months.

 
 

 

The "Akinator" knows ...

A friend sent me the link to this interesting web game and I am pretty impressed with the results. I have played it a few times and I can see that it can become quite an addictive distraction. The batting average of the Akinator in my hands is pretty impressive so far. Here are some of the "characters" it identified for me and the number of questions it asked to find the correct answers.

Rabindranath Tagore - 18
Jawaharlal Nehru - 13
Aung San Suu Kyi -18
Emperor Akbar - 19
Shah of Iran - 18
Friedrich Nietzsche -20
Aristotle - 10
Obama - 7
Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren - 8 each

I played the game on the American site. It is quite natural that Asian figures took a bit longer than a recent American president and popular western film stars. (I haven't tried Indian movie stars or fictional characters yet) Also, it is not terribly surprising that Nietzsche needed double the number of questions than did Aristotle. Even the couple of mistakes it made were not illogical - Ferdinand Magellan for Vasco da Gama and Guru Gobind Singh for Shivaji. The accuracy of the Akinator of course depends on the depth of our own knowledge of the character we want it to identify. What amazed me somewhat is the totally random and superficial nature of the questions it asks and comes up with the correct answer. 

Ask the Akinator and tell me how your real and fictional "characters" do in its hands. Just remember that they have to be somewhat well known.

Women in council: a better option for avoiding distractions?

After the latest tawdry tale from our nation's capital where yet another male politician has been caught indulging in an unwholesome pastime (cyber-flashing, in this case), some are wondering whether all too often men + power equals recklessness. Not many powerful women have been embroiled in sexual scandals or exercised such poor judgment in their personal behavior as the now very long list of offending male politicians from both parties. Women are not necessarily more sexually pure than men; they just know when not to throw caution to the wind. Also, they enter politics for different reasons than most men do.

Two stories here and here.

Less interestingly, I got into a long discussion on Facebook based on two articles on Anthony Weiner, one  by Juan Cole and the other by Glenn Greenwald. Since I haven't taken the permission to post the other comments, I am reproducing only my side here. It is easy to fathom the actual line of backing and forthing that went on. I am separating the comments by ***, each a response to something someone else said in the thread.

 (cartoon by Jack Ohman)

 

3 QD Science Prize, 2011

The 3rd annual competition for the best science writing on blogs and e-zines is now open at 3 Quarks Daily. If you have read an interesting science post in the last 12 months, please consider nominating it. For details of the rules and deadlines, see here.

 
 

3 QD Arts and Literature Prize winners announced.

 
The winners of the 2011 3 Quarks Daily Arts and Literature prizes have been announced. Please check out the winning entries here and if you haven't read them, take a look. Enjoy also the very interesting prize logos.

Although our own entry is not among the winners, it was great fun to compete and campaign. Thanks to everyone who voted for The Leopard and to Elatia for the nomination and her support.

 

3 Quarks Daily Arts & Literature Prize Finalists

 

A few weeks ago the 3 QD Arts & Literature contest for blog writings was announced here. I indicated then that a post from Accidental Blogger had been nominated. I am happy to report that the post has been selected as one of the nine finalists by the editors of 3 Quarks Daily. The eligible entries will be judged by author Laila Lalami to determine the three winners. 

3 QD Prize in Arts & Literature, 2011

If you have read an interesting, well written blog post related to the arts or literature published on or later than February 23, 2010, consider nominating it for a prize sponsored by 3 Quarks Daily. Please follow the link to find out the rules of the contest and the deadlines for nominations and voting. Author Laila Lalami will judge the competition.

A post from Accidental Blogger has been nominated. Please check it out.

 

Hot Flashes and Headlines (Sujatha)

Here we go again. The headline reads "Study Ties Hot Flashes to Lower Breast Cancer Risk". The article goes on to blabber thusly:

'Here's some good news for women ever bothered by hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms: Your risk for breast cancer may be reduced as much as 50 percent, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle report.'

I imagine the next step would be 'Grin and bear it, it's all for the good.' to soothe the women asking for medication to alleviate the symptoms. I recall similar annoying headlines about the 'benefits of being a migraine sufferer is reduced breast cancer risk', when studies on that association were published a couple of years ago .

biographies.google.com (Cyrus)

What would your biography look like if it was written by Google? Would Google emphasize the same aspects of your character and life story that you would?

If a set of court cases currently working their way through the Spanish justice system is any indication, Google would likely select the moments in history when you were at your lowest, splashing them across the book cover.

Imagine you run a childcare facility. A group of deeply religious parents spot a picture of Richard Dawkins on your desk, and decides you are Satanist and likely sexually abusing their children. Questionable psychiatrists, practicing the respected art of hypnotism, find plenty of repressed memories in the kids, and an indictment is secured. Prosecutors, doing their job, train the children to cry on the stand. After a month of hyped-up media coverage of the trial, the jury finds in your favor, the case is dismissed, and no grounds for appeal are found.

How would Google see this set of events?

Wikileaks, the Democratic Ideal, and Foriegn Policy (Cyrus)

A little over a month ago Wikileaks began to release U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and politicians cried.  Previously, Wikileaks had released U.S. Army SIGACT reports, detailing nearly every engagement in Afghanistan since the invasion, and politicians cried.  Before that Wikileaks had released the Iraq War logs, before that the Apache attack on Reuters journalists.  And the politicians cried.

The conflict between Wikileaks and their supporters, and the governments of the world is not strictly about secrecy versus transparency, or the extent of first-amendment rights granted to the citizenry.  Most of the media analysis has focused on the perceived conflict between secrecy and security, a simplistic dichotomy that fails to capture the complexity of security, leading to the acceptance of policies that do little to keep anyone safe, yet create agonizing situations for average citizens.  On the right, calls for the murder of Julian Assange and his associates have been par for the course, while the left has blamed (not entirely without reason) the failure of the mainstream media to sufficiently counter government’s endless desire for secrecy.  The argument goes something like, if media did its job and demanded accountability for government misdeeds, then such “extreme” leaks would be unnecessary.

 

The analysis that falls outside this rubric of conversation focuses largely on Assange as a larger than life character.  Some of the more interesting writing discusses Assange’s political philosophy [1, 2, 3], found in his archived blog from the mid-00s [4].  In his posts, Assange lays out a simple set of principles and a suggested course of action:

• Power structures which are unaccountable and authoritarian act in unjust ways.
•  Authoritarian power structures use secrecy to protect their power.
• Their use of secrecy makes them a form of conspiracy.
• Conspiracies can not survive when their secrets are exposed.
• Therefore, to increase justice in the world, one must expose the secrets of conspiracies.

I’m skipping a lot of the details and nuance in this bullet point summary, but those are the basics.  The use of the word “conspiracy” has caused some consternation in those analyzing Assange’s writing, but it can be removed without change to the main thesis: unaccountable power acts unjustly, and must be brought to account.  Assange’s version is more radical than most, and he talks of his desire to “destroy this invisible government,” using a quote from Theodore Roosevelt [1, 5].  He clearly has an anarchist’s desire to push power down to the small, and his seeming disregard for the possible side effects of information exposure is concerning at points.

 

But his main thesis reduces, more or less, to the core statement of the republican revolutions of the last 300 years, and the heart of the democratic ideal: men should not have power over other men unless that power is justified and granted by the governed.  It’s all there, in its radical beauty, both anarchic and democratic at once.

 

There has been little discussion about such ideals after the release of the diplomatic cables.  Many of the older Wikleaks releases deal with known or suspected corrupt entities, both governments and companies, and were heralded by the Western media and (a few) politicians as a boon for democracy.  Even when the U.S. Department of Defense tried to claim that battlefield tactics would be compromised by the release of the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, some media figures responded that the information gleaned (torture, civilian killings, contractor abuse and waste, etc, etc) was far more valuable for the democratic process than the risk posed to troops.

 

The release of the diplomatic cables saw most of these defenders melt away, particularly in the U.S.  Seen as a step too far, the public release of the cables threatened world stability and the security of the U.S., world peace, and risked immediate war in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula.  These concerns were not entirely without merit, particularly in the case of North Korea, where the revelation that China would support a Korean peninsula unified under Seoul could have provoked additional belligerence from the unpredictable North.  

 

But what of democratic ideals?  Do they disappear whenever risk presents itself?

 

It would be naive not to admit to the real tension between the risk and democracy, but we are at risk of stumbling back into the false dichotomy between secrecy and security once more. Instead, this tension should be regarded as a natural outcome of democracy.  The tendency in a healthy democracy would be toward the assumption of non-systemic risk, such as terrorism or an unprovoked attack, in return for increased democratic participation and decision making. After all, what is necessary for democracy to function?  Is not information one core ingredient?

 

In the West it is accepted that democracy is impossible without a well informed citizenry.  Yet this principle has never truly been applied to foreign affairs.  The stalwarts of the of the Enlightenment and the American and French revolutions saw foreign affairs in a most aristocratic light, to be conducted by and for the social elites.  This view has never been rooted out of the Western psyche.  While there have been instances of mass resistance to elitist foreign policy, such as the anti-Vietnam war movements, such challenges never included a majoritarian desire to see a democratization of foreign affairs in general.

 

In both domestic and foreign affairs, a large portion of the public is neither well informed nor well equipped, such that fruitful democratic discussion is often stymied.  But at the level of principles, the two are treated completely differently.  In domestic affairs almost all political actors and, more importantly, the citizenry either believe in, or pay lip service to, democratic participation.  Often supposed democratic values are used as a cudgel, with accusing the opposition of acting undemocratically a time honored tradition of political fist fighting. Yet demands for more democratic participation, and information upon which to base that participation, are almost never made, certainly not by elites, when it comes to matters of foreign affairs.  Those who make such calls are bullied and informed of their naiveté.

 

Instead, it is accepted that much of the information upon which foreign affairs is decided is to be kept secret.  That such secrecy is at best a half truth does not seem to matter.  Those who follow geopolitics are often able to surmise the actions, if not the desires, of major actors. This partly explains of the cries of “nothing new” at the release of the U.S. cables: the media commentators were already in the know.  But the public is assured that they do not need to know, can not know, the details, the and certainly not the motives, least the security of the State be put in jeopardy.

 

Post drug war, post 9/11, this style of reasoning has bled over to domestic issues, particularly immigration and security, but the difference in how we conceptualize the role of democracy in foreign and domestic affairs remains strong.  Wikileaks consciously and directly confronted this chasm with the release of the diplomatic cables.  The target was not the diplomats themselves, or the diplomatic process, both of which do necessitate some level of immediate confidentiality, as all personal relations do.  Rather, the target was the content of policy, the acts of U.S. foreign policy themselves, and the information upon which such acts are based.  The cables are a means of exposure and confirmation.

 

Had the unjust applications of power exposed in the cables been aimed at domestic initiatives or individual U.S. states, outrage, even if one did not agree with it, would rightly be seen and defended as a democratic response.  Many acts would likely be deemed corrupt or illegal.  Yet we hear little but reproach of the publishers and supporters, with many of the most heinous applications of power going completely unreported and discussed within the U.S. mainstream.

 

Remember the outrage when it was exposed that the White House has met with representatives of the insurance, pharmaceutical, and hospital industries during the formulation of the last year’s health care reform?  There are similar meetings recorded throughout the diplomatic cables, where business representatives express how the U.S. could best promote their company’s financial interests [6, 7, 8].  Yet the common opinion is that U.S. foreign policy should represent such interests (job creation!), not the will of the people.

 

There is the ideal of democracy and the reality, with the two looking very little alike.  In domestic affairs the ideal still rules the hearts of citizenry, no matter how pitiful the reality may be.  But the ideal has never been fully conceptualized with respect to foreign affairs. That is the challenge that Wikileaks has quietly presented the public: will you demand foreign affairs live up the same democratic standard as domestic policy?

 

There are certainly arguments against applying democratic ideals to foreign affairs, but only one seems, at first, to be unique: decisions in foreign affairs affect the citizens of more countries than just the one making a particular decision.  Maybe guidelines, similar to those we call rights, would be necessary to democratize international relations (for example: no nation can kill citizens of another, except in self defense; no nation can impose sanctions on another without the agreement of a majority of other nations; etc.).  Just as one can not vote away the rights of others (except, apparently, in California), governments could not violate the rights of other nations.  Such ideas are not very far from much of the work the U.N. has already done, and do not seem to pose fundamental problems except in enforcement. Anyway, this objection ignores the reality that domestic decisions also often have serious foreign consequences; see the American war on drugs and the effects on Mexico for an appalling example.

 

In the end, it falls upon us, the citizens, to demand that the various mechanisms of democracy become entwined more thoroughly in foreign affairs.  In the case of the U.S., this will require both a sea change in opinion, but also a possible constitutional amendment to strip the modern Executive of its near monopoly on foreign affairs.  I’m not holding my breath.  But Wikileaks has reminded us that the information necessary for wider democratic participation is out there, we just have to grab hold of it, understand it, and use it.  To shy away from that task, in fear of an uninformed populace or poor decisions, is to allow an unaccountable elite to continue to hold the power.

 

[1] "Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; 'To destroy this invisible government,'" Aaron Bady. zunguzungu.

[2] "What is Julian Assange Up To?," Robert P. Baird. 3 Quarks Daily.

[3] "On The Wikileaks Manifesto," Charli Carpenter. Lawyers, Gun$ and Money.

[4] http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://iq.org

[5] "State and Terrorist Conspiracies" and "Conspiracy as Governance" (collection), Julian Assange. IQ.org (republished at Cryptome.org).

[6] "Diplomats Help Push Sales of Jetliners on the Global Market," Eric Lipton, Nicola Clark, and Andrew W. Lehren. The New York Times.

[7] "WikiLeaks cables: McDonald's used US to put pressure on El Salvador," Sarah Boseley. The Guardian.

[8] "WikiLeaks cables: Shell's grip on Nigerian state revealed," David Smith. The Guardian.

2nd Annual 3QD Politics Prize

The nomination process for 3 Quarks Daily's 2nd annual prize for the best political writings on blogs is now open. Please check out the announcement and nominate a post of your liking.

This year the competition may be of special interest to our authors and readers - an A.B. post will be among the nominees. Although Andrew's excellent essay on the marketing of malt liquor is not a conventional political post, there is plenty of politics involved in his analysis. It therefore qualifies, in my opinion. Please keep an eye on the nomination and voting schedule and consider voting for Andrew's post when the time comes.

An Even Dozen

When it rains, it pours. I went out looking for a few new authors for the blog just a week ago. Three have already come on board, two have posted and a fourth signed up over the weekend bringing the total number of A.B. authors to twelve.

Jesse Schaefer comes to us from Arizona and he is looking forward to writing about art and other topics of his liking. I met Jesse the same way I did the other newcomers - at 3 Quarks Daily :-)  Here is Jesse on Jesse:

I was born in London and grew up in San Francisco, where I was plagued by distraction and a chronic doodling problem the entire way.  Most biographically pertinent were the several years I spent pursuing classical art training in Florence, Minneapolis and New York. I now happily call Tucson my home.

Welcome, Jesse; we look forward to hearing from you.

 

One more Accidental Blogger!

After despairing for many months at the flagging rate of posting on the blog, I took the plunge and invited three new authors to Accidental Blogger in quick succession. You have already met Norman and Omar. Now please welcome Cyrus Hall. As with the other two new arrivals, I became acquainted with Cyrus also in the labyrinths of the comments section of 3 Quarks Daily. I am delighted that he has agreed to blog here because Cyrus is thoughtful, funny, has a wide range of interests and is wise beyond his years. Here is a little background info, in his own words.

Cyrus Hall is a computer scientist looking for ways to use his super
powers for something other than a YAFB (Yet Another Facebook).  He has
spent his late-20s bumming around Switzerland, somehow eking out a PhD,
and plans to do "something else" soon.  Whatever that might be.  You can
listen to his occasional DJ sets here.