Beyond the Noise | 8.16.2021
What to read this week! Supporting Afghan anti-war feminists tops off this week's curious reads.
Important Writing to Have a Think On:
As the US Leaves Afghanistan, Anti-War Feminists Push a New Approach to Foreign Policy
Shreya Chattopadhyay for The Nation
Written months before the collapse of Afghanistan, this piece on anti-war feminists looks to help Americans re-orient themselves on what supporting Afghanistan's women should look like—as told by those women. Hint: we've been doing it wrong, and ordinary citizens need to have more of a say at home.
As murders surge, Democrats find a new message: Fund the Police
James Oliphant and Nathan Layne for Reuters
Neo-liberal myopia is something leftists are used to. Democrat butchery of "defund the police" shouldn't shock anyone. Still, while leftist ideas are becoming popular in the party, leftist thoughtfulness in policy isn't. It's worth reading an update on shallow progress.
Unusually Thoughtful Editorial:
The problem isn’t ‘inflation’. It’s that most Americans aren’t paid enough
Robert Reich for The Guardian
In general, I'm not a fan of Robert Reich. However, this op-ed serves as a reminder of economic basics which can help ground those who lose track of what the media means when they say "investors are worried..." and "the economy is overheating..."
New in Innovation:
Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence: Evidence from a Survey of Machine Learning Researchers
Zhang, et al. for AI and Society
Apologies for including an academic publication. Baobao Zhang, Allan Dafoe, Loren Kahn, Noemi Dreksler, and Michael Horowitz had the right idea to survey AI and machine learning practitioners on their moral and political beliefs. What do the creators of our next economy (and hell, creators of everything around us) think? Well, nationalism in cyberspace is probably going to get worse with 22% of those surveyed thinking trained models should be shared. But, 58% of researchers "strongly oppose" working on lethal autonomous weapons (e.g. drones). Hopefully, the other 42% aren't all the CalTech and MIT grads.
The Side Piece:
Breaking Up Big Chicken
Binyamin Appelbaum for the New York Times
It's easy (and fair) to focus monopoly concerns with the companies keeping the S&P 500 afloat. However, there are still other—often obvious—industries that should be under scrutiny as well. It's time to turn an eye to America's favorite protein.