A shock event is a shock. Hes said he was going to do it, he did it nothing shocking, aside from a commander in chief doing what they said in the election
On Jan 30, 2017 8:58 PM, "Faisal Imtiaz" <[email protected]> wrote: > Thought provoking ! > > =========================== > > From Heather Richardson, professor of History at Boston College: > > "I don't like to talk about politics on Facebook-- political history is my > job, after all, and you are my friends-- but there is an important > non-partisan point to make today. > > What Bannon is doing, most dramatically with last night's ban on > immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries-- is creating what is > known as a "shock event." > > Such an event is unexpected and confusing and throws a society into chaos. > People scramble to react to the event, usually along some fault line that > those responsible for the event can widen by claiming that they alone know > how to restore order. > > When opponents speak out, the authors of the shock event call them > enemies. As society reels and tempers run high, those responsible for the > shock event perform a sleight of hand to achieve their real goal, a goal > they know to be hugely unpopular, but from which everyone has been > distracted as they fight over the initial event. There is no longer > concerted opposition to the real goal; opposition divides along the > partisan lines established by the shock event. > > Last night's Executive Order has all the hallmarks of a shock event. It > was not reviewed by any governmental agencies or lawyers before it was > released, and counterterrorism experts insist they did not ask for it. > People charged with enforcing it got no instructions about how to do so. > Courts immediately have declared parts of it unconstitutional, but border > police in some airports are refusing to stop enforcing it. > > Predictably, chaos has followed and tempers are hot. > > My point today is this: unless you are the person setting it up, it is in > no one's interest to play the shock event game. It is designed explicitly > to divide people who might otherwise come together so they cannot stand > against something its authors think they won't like. > > I don't know what Bannon is up to-- although I have some guesses-- but > because I know Bannon's ideas well, I am positive that there is not a > single person whom I consider a friend on either side of the aisle-- and my > friends range pretty widely-- who will benefit from whatever it is. > > If the shock event strategy works, though, many of you will blame each > other, rather than Bannon, for the fallout. And the country will have been > tricked into accepting their real goal. > > But because shock events destabilize a society, they can also be used > positively. We do not have to respond along old fault lines. We could just > as easily reorganize into a different pattern that threatens the people who > sparked the event. > > A successful shock event depends on speed and chaos because it requires > knee-jerk reactions so that people divide along established lines. This, > for example, is how Confederate leaders railroaded the initial southern > states out of the Union. > > If people realize they are being played, though, they can reach across old > lines and reorganize to challenge the leaders who are pulling the strings. > This was Lincoln's strategy when he joined together Whigs, Democrats, > Free-Soilers, anti-Nebraska voters, and nativists into the new Republican > Party to stand against the Slave Power. > > Five years before, such a coalition would have been unimaginable. Members > of those groups agreed on very little other than that they wanted all > Americans to have equal economic opportunity. Once they began to work > together to promote a fair economic system, though, they found much common > ground. They ended up rededicating the nation to a "government of the > people, by the people, and for the people." > > Confederate leaders and Lincoln both knew about the political potential of > a shock event. As we are in the midst of one, it seems worth noting that > Lincoln seemed to have the better idea about how to use it." > > COPY AND PASTE. DON"T "SHARE" > > ========================= > > Faisal Imtiaz > Snappy Internet & Telecom > 7266 SW 48 Street > Miami, FL 33155 > Tel: 305 663 5518 x 232 <(305)%20663-5518> > > Help-desk: (305)663-5518 <(305)%20663-5518> Option 2 or Email: > [email protected] > > ------------------------------ > > *From: *"That One Guy /sarcasm" <[email protected]> > *To: *[email protected] > *Sent: *Monday, January 30, 2017 9:36:57 PM > *Subject: *[AFMUG] Or: Sally Yates > > Commence the full stroke meltdown > >
