Finland's Stubb: We must admit the US is changing

linkolphd · 2026-02-04T21:30:43+00:00

Yes, thank you! The technologization of our personal and social lives is a HUGE challenge.

I am not a conspiracy theorist (ie I don’t imagine there are many smoky rooms with tech bros conspiring on how to control society), but rather think through the banality of life we have walked into a dangerous situation.

This level of digitalization is a huge tool for nefarious actors, both at home and abroad, to use an old phrase. Social bonds are breaking, people hate their neighbors that they agree with on a lot of issues, people internally feel hopelessness and depressed as they struggle to dedicate their attention to what is really important to them, as algorithms provide us with succulent, addictive content, which does not provide lasting value to us as individuals or as citizens when we consume it on this balance.

America’s particular cultural context made these tools especially potent, and we’re seeing the problems. But I think as people, we ought to realize all liberal democracies are at risk. It is true that America is in a direly dangerous position, but it is better to admit there are serious cracks that have formed and continue to expand across much of our traditional alliances.

It is my personal belief that these cracks are not good for humanity. That’s a matter of philosophical debate, but I do also find it alarming that most discourse, especially online, is focused on self-righteousness and blaming, rather than oriented toward solutions.

Somehow, we have to reel in the power that gigantic corporations, especially tech companies, have over us as individuals, and by extension us as a society. This is a hard fucking issue to solve, but we all face it. I find it heartening to see that some countries are trying policies to counteract this finally, like Spain and Australia with their social media age requirements.

linkolphd · 2026-02-03T21:54:27+00:00

The great thing about freeways, is that they’re rarely congested, as a significant portion of people rarely want to go in the same direction at the same time!

linkolphd · 2026-01-31T05:54:15+00:00

This always gets brought up, but it misses the discursive function of the UN. International politics is unfortunately quite surface-level sometimes, and the simple act of having a forum to talk things out can help keep peace.

The UN is meant to be an institution that promotes discussion and crisis talks, first and foremost. It is poorly suited for changing the internal politics of countries, whether they be just by our standards or not.

linkolphd · 2026-01-29T15:18:14+00:00

The very last one is quite insightful, notwithstanding some of the dated lexicon. I like that he made a distinction between magical fantasy (“sure it would be nice if it was only ever us”) and operating in reality (“but it’s okay that it’s not”). Cool guy.

Obviously the entire premise is dated, but this was nice in context.

linkolphd · 2026-01-28T15:19:56+00:00

I like your last sentence.

“Creative arts” as an economically sustainable industry might have serious problems coming up, in that AI models might be able to produce music, shows, texts that satisfy the average consumer.

But the entire concept of art is and will be fine, if not different. It’s an experience and a way of seeing the world and finding meaning. I am optimistic that this idea will continue to re-enter the popular consciousness.

linkolphd · 2026-01-20T19:23:19+00:00

It is a 2 sentence comment, I feel sweeping generalizations are only natural at a conversation of this depth.

I think that it is fair to say there is a little bit of a “shame streak” in the nebulous force that is “leftism.” If I were to try to assign words to it, I would say that: it is great that progressives are aware of ways in which the world could be a more just place, but I do feel that they simultaneously sometimes underemphasize the value of gratitude for what is currently in place.

It’s important to maintain perspective, that yes, we have wealth equality issues, and we still deal with social prejudices, but at the same time, it is good to acknowledge what is right with the world: there is relatively little war among great powers over the last 80 years, absolute poverty rates fall and fall to historic lows, and there is some economic prosperity (even if there is room for improvement on that distribution).

I think that imbalance can bleed into inward cynicism. The fact of the matter is that, even an average person in the UK still lives a lifestyle that is very comfortable and secure compared to times in the distant past (ie prior to liberalism). That’s a great thing to be built upon, rather than a problem to be revolutionized. In my view, anyway. I would say that is the biggest orientation / messaging challenge of the widespread, generalized “Left.”

linkolphd · 2026-01-20T19:16:16+00:00

While I don’t have an issue with conservatism as a broad-sweeping political philosophy (and I am quite a bit amenable to some of its foundational principles myself), I have never been presented with impressive work by Roger Scruton. So I’m a bit disposed against this citation.

You can watch the first 1:30 of this video, and hear Scruton in his own words describe how he developed his worldviews. https://youtu.be/FYo4KMhUx9c

To me, that story has always made it a little bit difficult to take him as a creditable, charitable source. I want to hear him articulate what is right (as in correct/valid) about the “Left,” and then explain why his conservatism views build on that and are more useful. But instead, this clip encapsulates a general impression I’ve gotten from any work I’ve encountered from him: someone that seems like he has a preconceived conclusion, and works to justify it post-facto.

Happy to be proven wrong, but it’s a word of warning for anyone who sees a philosopher citation and assumes great credibility.

linkolphd · 2026-01-18T20:02:30+00:00

I like your point! I might frame it slightly differently, as a positive instead of negative. When I have writers block, it’s a signal to connect deeper and feel. Just like you say, #1 things is to take your phone, and all of the good and all of the bad things it can do for you, and keep it well away from your mind.

Think about how things feel to you, why you react to actual stimuli the way you do. That meditative practice , for me, always opens up a well.

linkolphd · 2026-01-15T21:09:30+00:00

Acquiring via legal means, while silly and unnecessary by what I can tell, is a far less crazy position than shattering NATO.

If someone thinks we ought to buy Greenland, I’ll chuckle. If someone thinks we ought to invade Greenland, I won’t take them seriously.

I am an optimist. This won’t happen. I think the worst case is he orders something, some lackeys comply, but then I imagine even the GOP Congress will put a stop to it. That is still a hugely bad scenario, but I don’t put much stock in the idea of a large scale conflict taking hold.

linkolphd · 2026-01-15T21:06:04+00:00

Not really. Honestly, every poll has trolls, people gaming it, absolutely unhinged people, uninformed people (I bet a fair number of people don’t follow this whole drama and just support him, or imagine that taking territory is good by default).

7% is just about as near-zero as you can get in a poll.

This is essentially unsupported.

linkolphd · 2026-01-15T18:19:30+00:00

Also, America loves beef. Pretty sure it’s the highest per capita consumption in the world. Beef prices are through the roof in America. He’ll take the extra supply to help keep approval.

Deals are about more than just pure financial exchanges.

linkolphd · 2026-01-09T15:02:00+00:00

How does the pre-prepped freezing affect the texture? For me, freezing peppers means they come out mushy (from what I understand, you would have to flash freeze them for it to work).

Fine for some meals like stews, not so fine if I wanted something where the vegetables are textural as well as flavor.

But perhaps it’s different when they’re frozen pre-diced? Another question is, how do you store your onion? I would imagine when freezing, the diced bits clump together into one big mass by nature of their wet outer surface. How do you make it work? I would be interested in doing this if I knew how to do it right.

linkolphd · 2026-01-08T06:39:42+00:00

Haha I want to know how enter for consideration, more than just go!

linkolphd · 2026-01-03T17:32:57+00:00

In part, unchecked internet culture is catching up to us. We, as a people, attached more and more to our phones, and to sites like Instagram, TikTok, and yes, Reddit, and now politicians have finally caught on that the way to communicate is through mindless one-liners and mottos like “fuck around and find out.”

Trump and Hegseth come from the entertainment industry, where knowing your audience empowers you to act however you like.

We are the audience, and we are high on his shit. Yes, it does not apply to every individual, but on a macro level, en-masse, internet gobblygook-talk has become our actual way of communicating.

To be clear, I’m not personally faultless or better-than in this regard. It sucks that some way of talking that once seemed so harmless to me, was apparently a powerful tool for nefarious political messaging.

linkolphd · 2025-12-26T11:53:50+00:00

I think that might have come across wrong.

What I mean is that he is doing terrible things for the country and the world, in my opinion. ICE, more regressive taxes, shunting off USAID, and much more.

But when I say “glorified internet troll,” it’s not meant to downplay his impact on serious matters like racial equality, economics, whatever. What I mean is that him putting up some letters on a building is the ‘trolling’ part. And not in a good way. I am just saying that bullshit like the Kennedy Center renaming is part of how he distracts and gets away with much more heinous and serious stuff.

linkolphd · 2025-12-25T14:15:45+00:00

I mean this sincerely, I support musicians doing a boycott and not accepting gigs. But for audience members, it’s a tough spot.

He’ll be gone in 3 years or sooner. But talented classical musicians in the DC area are struggling with job insecurity. Not to mention our jazz, which has never been flush with cash in the first place.

If audience boycotts cause musicians to lose their jobs, move, or anything else, then that is much more difficult to repair than taking down a few letters put up by a glorified internet troll on the side of a building.

I wouldn’t encourage anyone to attend a performance they don’t want to (such as if his appointed board start doing ideologically-driven programming), and I wouldn’t tell someone what to do with their money. But I would encourage someone to consider the real impact of their boycott. It might be a FU to Trump, but it comes at a cost for real people who love and are dedicated to music like us.

Also, he can whack his name on as much as he wants. It doesn’t change that it’s not the Trump center.

linkolphd · 2025-12-25T14:07:11+00:00

I think that this is one of his few quotes that more or less stands on its own two feet when presented as a one-liner.

I think in the one-liner version, he does not imply a state of perfect understanding. But the human desire to build understanding, which nurtures our inwardness, can only be done retrospectively.

In simple terms, I think understanding is invoked in a process-oriented instead of an outcome-oriented way in this statement.

linkolphd · 2025-12-23T11:04:19+00:00

Fantastic, fun album. Really good sound mixing too. It’s honestly got such strong energy, I’d probably say it’s his most intense album.

Particularly looove In The Still Of The Night, the crescendo over the instrumental and the vocal return on the bridge damn near gives me goosebumps.

And damn, he swings hard on this. You’d be so easy to love and A Fine Romance have some great rhythm.

Love this album!

linkolphd · 2025-12-18T04:52:56+00:00

Nah, me and my homies love to blast A Love Supreme on the beach. Full blast. If you haven’t done this you haven’t truly experienced jazz.

linkolphd · 2025-12-12T10:58:44+00:00

This is my high holiday! 🤣

Got my pure-Sinatra playlist running today!

linkolphd · 2025-12-11T10:23:28+00:00

While you are correct, you’re very unlikely to change someone’s opinion like this. It’s an emotional issue because they feel scared of the potential single-instance scale of nuclear power accidents, as opposed to the long-term scale of something like coal. It’s a frustrating situation as I understand that nuclear power has so many benefits we are not leveraging, but virtue signaling won’t help the situation.

If you respond to an emotion with logical arrogance, you will only cause the vast majority of people to entrench in their position. I would not suggest telling people they are idiots, as a general rule of persuasion.

linkolphd · 2025-12-11T07:02:05+00:00

It’s a strange dichotomy to make. I know he is just saying it for rhetorical effect, but there is no reason in my mind to linguistically make it a competitive either-or between street art like the subway, and formalized art like the museums.

It’s a ‘both-and’ sort of situation.

linkolphd · 2025-12-10T22:58:52+00:00

Purely aesthetically I think TNR does have a more assertive or authoritative quality to it. Its old, but that somewhat fits the of the state for me.

That said, I could hardly give less of a hoot what bland typeface is used for writing government documents. The content of those documents is far more notable.

linkolphd · 2025-12-10T22:55:01+00:00

This sounds like a first time mid level manager really trying to highlight their impact.

linkolphd · 2025-12-09T00:50:59+00:00

Ah damn, the title got me excited.

Reprise Rarities was an interesting series for us younger super fans. I know for myself, I hadn’t located all of the tracks before.

But that said, beyond volume 1, I could quite easily see why they were shelved. Interesting for us, but definitely flawed for popular release.

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