{"id":22659,"date":"2024-08-31T17:25:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T00:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=22659"},"modified":"2024-09-01T11:17:21","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T18:17:21","slug":"infrastructure-the-constitution-changing-minds-and-fringe-items","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/08\/31\/infrastructure-the-constitution-changing-minds-and-fringe-items\/","title":{"rendered":"Infrastructure, the Constitution, Changing Minds, and Fringe Items"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>How expanding America&#8217;s highways doesn&#8217;t solve their congestion;<\/li>\n<li>Ten ways the heat is changing us, including impacts on the infrastructure;<\/li>\n<li>Another perspective on issues with the US Constitution;<\/li>\n<li>Changing minds, appeals to fear, or persuasion;<\/li>\n<li>Fringe items about a fake dog, telling jokes, giggling in public, choosing misery, and performing gender surgery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a great story that challenges the presumptions of the growing economy.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/slatetraffic_800x450.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/slatetraffic_800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Slate, David Zipper, 28 Aug 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/business\/2024\/08\/construction-traffic-cars-driving-transportation-highway.html\">How America Can Break Its Highway Addiction<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;In the 1980s, an unlikely alliance slowed the construction of nature-destroying dams. We just might be able to pull it off again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This is about America&#8217;s propensity for building new highways. <!--more-->There was the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Interstate_Highway_System\">interstate system of highways<\/a>, built beginning in the 1950s through a huge government program that would never existed if conservatives and libertarians had their way. And since then, more and more highways have been built, especially into cities, supposedly to solve traffic issues, which nevertheless made those problems even worse.<\/p>\n<p>Built more highways, cars will drive on them, development will align along them, and the congestion is never solved.<\/p>\n<p>What is the solution for this?<\/p>\n<p>A current example is talk about removing the 980 freeway in Oakland, the one in the center of this graphic, that cuts off downtown from &#8220;north&#8221; Oakland (which is really west of downtown).<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/oaklandmap.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/oaklandmap.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/compote.slate.com\/images\/b598851d-c390-4ee1-806c-07a30428ad90.gif?crop=3000%2C1075%2Cx0%2Cy0&amp;width=1600\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Slate, 27 Aug 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/technology\/2024\/08\/heat-waves-summer-record-temperature-climate-change-health.html\">How the Heat Is Changing Us<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Ten ways\u2014small and enormous.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Items from this piece have appeared separately on Slate&#8217;s homepage over the past couple weeks. Such as: attending Summer Camp, and running a half-marathon. How we&#8217;re doing more laundry. We rethink food safety. Outdoor work gets dangerous. People are dying (case in point: Mecca).<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Another item questioning the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/08\/31\/books\/review\/31Idea-Constitution\/31Idea-Constitution-superJumbo-v3.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, Jennifer Szalai, 31 Aug 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/31\/books\/review\/constitution-secession-democracy-crisis.html\">The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;One of the biggest threats to America\u2019s politics might be the country\u2019s founding document.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This concerns a new book by Erwin Chemerinsky, who wrote the LA Times piece I linked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/08\/28\/human-nature-morality-politics\/\">on the 28th<\/a>. Szalai is the paper&#8217;s nonfiction book critic, but this piece is more of a thought piece than a proper review. I&#8217;ll just quote a bit.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Back in 2018, Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley\u2019s law school, still seemed to place considerable faith in the Constitution, pleading with fellow progressives in his book <a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9781250166005\/wethepeople\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cWe the People\u201d<\/a> \u201cnot to turn their back on the Constitution and the courts.\u201d By contrast, \u201cNo Democracy Lasts Forever\u201d is markedly pessimistic. Asserting that the Constitution, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/04\/opinion\/amend-constitution.html\">which is famously difficult to amend<\/a>, has put the country \u201cin grave danger,\u201d Chemerinsky lays out what would need to happen for a new constitutional convention \u2014 and, in the book\u2019s more somber moments, he entertains <a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/changing-america\/enrichment\/arts-culture\/563221-shocking-poll-finds-many-americans-now-want-to\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the possibility of secession<\/a>. West Coast states might form a nation called \u201cPacifica.\u201d Red states might form their own country. He hopes that any divorce, if it comes, will be peaceful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Along the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2020\/06\/26\/notes-for-the-book-hierarchy-of-morality\/\">hierarchy of morality<\/a>, perhaps.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/fAPdoR9TWmJmD4LUaIqQSgV7oSQ=\/0x0:4800x2700\/976x549\/media\/img\/mt\/2024\/08\/HR_Cross_2021_Thomas_Jordan\/original.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Atlantic, Boris Kachka, 30 Aug 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/newsletters\/archive\/2024\/08\/books-briefing-worst-way-change-minds\/679662\/\">The Worst Way to Change Minds<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;When religious certainty is challenged, some leaders appeal to fear\u2014but persuasion works better.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Again, not a full review or essay, but discussion of several recent books:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Eliza Griswold\u2019s new book, <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/12476\/9780374601683\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen31117857_899=\"266\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"266\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\"><em>Circle of Hope<\/em><\/a>, about a progressive Evangelical congregation that collapsed following 2020\u2019s COVID shutdowns and Black Lives Matter protests.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted a Nation, Brenda Wineapple recounts the Scopes \u201cmonkey trial\u201d of 1925, when a teacher was charged with violating a law against covering evolution in the classroom. &#8230; Contemporary narratives tend to cast Darrow as the hero and Bryan as the backward bigot. Wineapple portrays it slightly differently: Darrow could be arrogant, flip, and alienating, and many felt he did Scopes no favors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I found consolation in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/books\/archive\/2024\/08\/discovery-fossils-dinosaurs-evolution-book-review\/679454\/\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen31117857_899=\"98187\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"98187\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">Wineapple\u2019s <em>Atlantic<\/em> article earlier this month<\/a> about two books that reached even further back in history: Michael Taylor\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/12476\/9781324093923\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen31117857_899=\"98249\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"98249\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\"><em>Impossible Monsters<\/em><\/a> and Edward Dolnick\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/12476\/9781982199616\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen31117857_899=\"98263\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"98263\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\"><em>Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party<\/em><\/a>. Each addresses the moment, in the early 19th century, when the discovery of dinosaur fossils shook the foundations of Victorian society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Lighter items.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/compote.slate.com\/images\/279a38b7-ecee-431a-8697-3b63caeab86a.jpeg?crop=1560%2C1040%2Cx0%2Cy0&amp;width=1280\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 29 Aug 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2024\/08\/29\/the-tragedy-of-magas-conspiracy-theory-about-tim-walzs-fake-dog\/\">The tragedy of MAGA&#8217;s conspiracy theory about Tim Walz&#8217;s &#8220;fake&#8221; dog<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Donald Trump controls his followers by convincing them to reject basic reality, even the most banal parts&#8221;. MAGA folks will believe anything, because surely everything is a conspiracy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Slate, Sam Adams, 29 Aug 2024<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2024\/08\/jd-vance-trump-walz-harris-donut-shop-couch-joke-humor.html\">Why Can\u2019t J.D. Vance Tell a Joke?<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;It\u2019s almost impressive how badly Donald Trump\u2019s running mate keeps bombing when it comes to normal human interaction.&#8221; It&#8217;s long been noted that conservatives don&#8217;t do comedy. They&#8217;re too concerned and angry about the world to find anything humorous in it.<\/li>\n<li>From my favorite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/\">aggregate site:<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2024\/08\/habba-ridicules-miss-harris-for-giggling-in-public\/\">Habba Ridicules \u201cMiss Harris\u201d For \u201cGiggling\u201d In Public<\/a>. See how angry she is?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2024\/08\/vance-women-with-careers-choose-path-to-misery\/\">Vance: Women With Careers \u201cChoose Path To Misery\u201d<\/a>. OK, so it&#8217;s from 2021. Why do conservatives seem so concerned that other people make decisions about their lives different from their own?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2024\/08\/trump-claims-schools-perform-gender-surgery-your-kid-goes-to-school-comes-home-with-an-operation\/\">Trump Claims Schools Perform Gender Surgery: \u201cYour Kid Goes To School, Comes Home With An Operation\u201d<\/a>. What planet is he living on?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How expanding America&#8217;s highways doesn&#8217;t solve their congestion; Ten ways the heat is changing us, including impacts on the infrastructure; Another perspective on issues with the US Constitution; Changing minds, appeals to fear, or persuasion; Fringe items about a fake &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2024\/08\/31\/infrastructure-the-constitution-changing-minds-and-fringe-items\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,18,41,2,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-lunacy","category-morality","category-science","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22659"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22665,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22659\/revisions\/22665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}