A preamble to an experiment

I want to try an experiment. Like any good experiment, its strength will depend on the number of participants -- the more participants, the smaller the chance that the conclusions drawn from the experiment will be erroneous.

Political discourse in this country is heavily fettered by the mutual unacceptability of the premises of the other side. This will be true as long as arguments start from ideologically predilections, rather than from the facts on the ground. No one is immune from this disease. It takes tremendous effort to stay focused on details, and it requires considerable strength of mind to admit the potential efficacy of our opponents' prescriptions. As Orwell said, "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."

We need a group of people so desperate for common sense solutions, that they are willing to forgo standard partisan delineations, and to even see beyond religious or other moral commitments. How do we do this?

The answer is something I think we should call "materialism by committee." By "materialism" we don't mean "commercialism" or the love of money and possessions, but rather the philosophical expression of the belief that, at least at some level, the world can be explained solely by interactions between material objects. We want a "materialistic" explanation of political and social process that everyone can agree to, or, at the very least, one in which everyone's views get a fair hearing. How is this different from the endless, and seemingly pointless roundtable discussions of hopelessly swelled talking heads? First of all, this explanation will have no place for individual, larger-than-life statesmen and women -- the influence of the political bad guys and good guys does not interest us. These come and go, while the process remains. Tout change, tout passe, il n'y a que le tout qui reste. Bush-hatred and Hillary-hatred are irrelevant here -- we will make something that transcends personal animosity, and instead sees only what is in front of one's nose.

Political Spaghetti Lives

I'm sure all of my thousands of readers have been worried where Trumpetcell has gone off to. Well, kids, Trumpetcell was sent away to a nice country farm to play with other nice blogs. I'm sure it'll be fine, frolicking in the dewy, verdant meadows of Blog Heaven, chasing its tail, and eating its own poo.

Time and much reflection have led me to the conclusion that a brand new blog is needed -- not just for my own narcissistic tendencies, but for you, my vast audience -- a blog with a new format and title, and, more important, a clearly defined niche: how the world works.